What are the 5 worst calls in NFL postseason history?

With referees in the spotlight again during the NFL playoffs, what are some of the worst calls in postseason history?

Being an NFL referee is often an unenviable job, particularly during the postseason when the entire nation is watching and one missed call can end a team’s season.

NFL refs by and large do a nice job, particularly with a changing rule book that’s harder to understand than ever. However, all it takes is one bad postseason call to go down in NFL history and be debated forever.

In particular, last year’s playoffs seemed to have a number of controversial calls that directly impacted the final outcome of games. The Detroit Lions still have to be fuming about a picked up pass interference flag late in their Wild Card Game against the Dallas Cowboys, one of the worst postseason calls in recent memory.

The Cowboys learned that pain a week late against the Green Bay Packers on a controversial Dez Bryant catch late in the game that was ruled incomplete. Again, that situation was more a function of the complicated rule book and nobody knowing what a catch is anymore, but it’s still going to be debated about for years to come.

While not to the same extent, the refs again were still a discussion point during this year’s Wild Card Weekend, particularly in the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. A no-call on a helmet-to-helmet hit on Giovanni Bernard and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag in the dying seconds against Adam Jones are just a couple calls from that game that Bengals fans won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

The flag on Jones, Bryant’s non-catch and countless other examples like the Music City Miracle were certainly controversial, but not necessarily flat-out wrong. A few others stand out as the worst calls in NFL postseason history.

Next: Mike Renfro's no-catch