Ball Don't Lie: Eagles tush push payback, Vikings screwed and bad calls from Week 5

It wouldn't be a week in the NFL without some questionable calls. It's my job, as the primary writer of this column, to pick those flags off the turf and report them to you, the reader. Week 5 wasn't as egregious as past weeks, and so far this season we haven't seen too many game-deciding penalties – or at least none that were the wrong decision.

Sunday night's game between the Patriots and Bills was a flag fest in its own right. Shawn Hochuli has never been shy to make his presence known – that is why Bills Mafia showed up to Highmark Stadium on Sunday, right? – and threw an astounding number of flags in the first half especially. The Bills had eight accepted penalties in the first two quarters alone, which is tied for their second-most in a game since Sean McDermott became head coach. The most under McDermott in a single half was 10, in a game also officiated by Hochuli.

Yet, believe it or not Hochuli did not make the cut. He tried to ruin a primetime game, sure, and that deserves its own special place in football hell, but none of the decisions he made were bad enough to make the cut. But were they ticky-tacky? Absolutely.

So, if Hochuli's horseplay didn't make the worst calls of the week, then what did?

The worst roughing the passer call this season

I have a tough time believing anyone will be able to surpass the performance of New York Giants rookie Jaxson Dart, who was the beneficiary of one of the worst roughing the passer calls I've ever seen. Now, had Dart flopped or made the tackle on him look worse in any way, I'd tip my cap to him and perhaps nominate him for an Oscar. However, Dart and the Giants received 15 free yards and a first down on a phantom roughing the passer call.

Dart was tackled high, sure, but certainly not above the shoulder-pads. He also held onto the football too long, as rookies tend to do, which is why he was sacked by the Saints defensive front. What should've served as a painful learning experience for Dart and the Giants was instead rewarded by a flag-happy officiating crew with nothing better to do.

Roughing the passer penalties are incredibly important, as they keep quarterbacks safe. Quarterback is the toughest position in sports and as a result need extra rules to keep them off the turf more than most players. Yet, as we saw on Sunday, some officials can get carried away.

Vikings had points taken off the board...by a camera

In their Sunday morning tilt in London, the Minnesota Vikings lined up for a 51-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. Considering the Vikings were down three points, Will Reichard's kick was (at the time) incredibly important. Upon first look, it appears Reichard missed this long field goal as he would any other, but the replay review suggests something far more fluky at play.

Reichard's kick may have hit the spidercam floating near the goalposts in search of a better angle. I've never seen anything like this in my entire career, but if Reichard's kick did make contact with the camera, the play should've been called dead. Essentially, with the Vikings down three points and needing a field goal to tie (at that point), Reichard would've received a much-need re-do.

Now, we cannot say definitively that the ball hit the cables, but the league should've at least reviewed the play to make sure. Thankfully for Minnesota, the Vikings went on to win anyway, but had they lost by just three points you can be the league office would've heard from Kevin O'Connell and Co.

Refs get revenge on Eagles for the tush push

The tush push could be banned as early as next offseason by the rules committee. Despite passionate speeches from the likes of Jason Kelce and Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles favorite play should be extinct sooner rather than later. The Eagles haven't helped their case this season, as replay review proves that on several important tush push plays, Philly should've been called for offsides. The league office sent a memo to officiating crews about just that a few weeks back, though we haven't see an uptick in offsides penalties as a result.

Now, I would never suggest the officials ACTUALLY got revenge on the Eagles for making them look bad all these years, but Philadelphia was the victim of one of the worst and decisive calls of the week on Sunday. Had the refs called pass interference on the Broncos, Philadelphia would've gotten the ball close to the goal line with only a few seconds remaining. Instead, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles had to throw a last-second Hail Mary, which fell incomplete with zeroes on the clock.

This was also the Eagles first loss on the season. Philly gave up 18 unanswered points to Bo Nix and Denver in the fourth quarter. While the no-call on Skinner didn't help matters, the Eagles did themselves in with one of their worst fourth-quarter performances in years.