Ball don’t lie: 3 worst calls from Week 4 in the NFL
By Mark Powell
1. Mahomes given star treatment
Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL for a reason. With that title comes some protection and, frankly, assumptions from the officiating crew. Chase Winovich and the Patriots found this out the hard way when a Mahomes interception was taken away from them. Against a player of Mahomes’ caliber, Bill Belichick knew he’d only get so many chances to change the course of history. The Monday Night crew took that away from the Patriots, and while that’s sweet justice for just about every other fanbase in the NFL, it was rightfully blasted by pundits and players alike.
NFL’s explanation: “We decided he was in the grasp and stopped the play right away to protect Mahomes.”
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 6, 2020
Meanwhile, on video there’s no evidence of any refs trying to stop the play, and here’s when the refs on the field actually blew the whistle:pic.twitter.com/95vJ7Z3cPA
Mahomes was on top of a Patriots player when he decided to throw the ball. Because the play was blown dead, Belichick could not challenge the result and the Chiefs were instead allowed to voluntarily punt the ball back to New England on their own terms. Such a tremendous swing in momentum was taken away from the Patriots, who up to that point in the game were hanging tough with the Super Bowl champs despite starting Brian Hoyer at quarterback. Given the mountain of adversity Belichick was up against, it’s not surprising he was fuming on the sidelines.
Recap: Sure, the Patriots getting screwed over is amusing, but the overall obliviousness of the officiating in Week 4 was a step down from their genuinely surprising performance so far this season. If this is what we have to look forward to, it could be a long year. Grade: C-
Next. NFL quarterback rankings, Week 5: Tom Brady is still the GOAT. dark