Bills-Colts referee made the most mind-bogglingly bad call (Video)

Officiating in the playoffs got off to a rough start Wild Card weekend in Buffalo.

The first game of Super Wild Card Weekend was billed as one of the best, but that critique was limited to the play on the field. While the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts brought their A-game, officiating got off to a rough start.

Call it first game jitters, call it shaking off the rust, or just call it what it is: A mind-bogglingly bad call. In fact, call it multiple bad calls.

On the Colts’ first drive of the game, Philip Rivers threw an incomplete third-down pass that was initially ruled to be a completion.

How can the refs be this bad?

It couldn’t have more clearly been the opposite.

The call was quickly reversed, but the fact remains that for a period of time this was a call on the field that stood. The CBS announcing booth tried to massage the error by initially saying that sideline catches, specifically contested ones, often provide tough angles for officials.

But the replay is pretty indisputable.

Later in the game, officials missed what appeared to be a clear fumble that gave the Colts a chance to either tie or win the game.

Indianapolis eventually squandered the gift it was given, failing to score on the drive which ended the game.

This is two straight weekends where officials had a tough time getting a call right on the field in New York. The Dallas Cowboys season effectively ended after officials ruled that Wayne Gallman didn’t fumble a ball that very clearly appeared to be exactly that.

It was a different officiating crew, but the point stands.