Point, blank, period, this was some of the worst officiating in the history of the NFL, if not the worst: the Dolphins got screwed.
The Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles squared off on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” and boy oh boy, was it a doozy. And not in a good way. Not for the Dolphins, not the Eagles, not the entire National Football League – NOBODY.
For example, with 2:39 left to go in the first half, Miami offensive tackle Austin Jackson and Philadelphia defensive tackle Jalen Carter got into a bit of a mix-up, which led to Carter giving Jackson a pop in the face. In retaliation, Jackson gave Carter a good whack, and then Carter … like a real annoyance you would expect out of Philly … flopped in true European soccer style to earn himself an offsetting unnecessary roughness call to nix the flag against the Eagles.
Just hoping Jalen Carter is ok after this exchange pic.twitter.com/vO5aIWYuon
— Steve Palazzolo (@PFF_Steve) October 23, 2023
And that’s the intro to this blog … we haven’t even scratched the surface of what happened in Pennsylvania.
It’s not just one, two, three, four, five bad calls we’re looking at here: we’re talking about a boat load that Brad Allen’s officiating crew made — bad calls against the Dolphins and bad no-calls against the Eagles — and judging by Allen’s history, it all makes sense.
home teams win in 58% of tonight’s ref Brad Allen’s games & cover 56% ATS since 2016
NFL average is 55% win & 49% cover
Allen’s crews have called an above average rate of penalties on road teams in his career, per @nflrefstats1
tonight?
8 penalties (60 yds) on MIA
0 on PHI https://t.co/cCQWMX21vN
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 23, 2023
Altogether, the Dolphins had 10 penalties against them, while the Eagles had ZERO, NONE, NADA!
But I’m sure it was all just a coincidence … *blatant sarcasm.*
And these bad calls were outrageously obvious, too.
Just check this ish out:
James Bradberry got away with a pretty obvious facemask on Cedrick Wilson on 4th down.
Officiating has been the story of Week 7.pic.twitter.com/neKpk29TfM
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 23, 2023
And then there’s this … roughing the passer, my foot …
Dolphins flagged for Christian Wilkins playing 2-hand touch, which apparently is roughing the passer in today’s NFL. pic.twitter.com/tfbUg7A0s8
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) October 23, 2023
Don’t ask me, ask former NFL official and current NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay.
Was this roughing the passer penalty?. Terry McAulay wasn’t convinced.
“I say he hits him in one step. He actually pulls off with his hands, he doesn’t follow through and blow up the quarterback. This just isn’t enough for roughing the passer.”pic.twitter.com/Nu9eBK2M5N
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 23, 2023
McAulay also noted both the Dolphins and Eagles got hit with offsides on this play when it should have just been the Birds.
Both teams called for offsides.
Rules analyst Terry McAulay highlighting that both hands on the Philly side belong to Jason Kelce. pic.twitter.com/nZjyHT2MYg
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) October 23, 2023
Just look at this entire Twitter thread from user @MikMcDaniel for God’s sake: there’s so much nonsense that favored Philly.
First off congrats to the #Eagles for winning. NFL — This is a thread of all the missed calls by the refs tonight in the #Dolphins–#Eagles. Rodger Goodell, I’m doing this pro bono.
1. This is not roughing the passer on Wilkins. He let up right after a light shove. More 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/orpmhVME9r
— Mike McDaniel (@MikMcDaniel) October 23, 2023
The Dolphins got screwed, royally screwed. I don’t think Miami could have gotten more screwed, it was so terrible.
We might be 5-2 now, but as far as I’m concerned, we’re 6-1 with a fat asterisk right beside it — the same asterisk that’s on the Eagles’ “win” and their 6-1* record.
What a joke, man. The officiating was so horrible that I’m legitimately over here being skeptical about the National Football League being rigged, definitely with this particular game. You can accuse me of being a sour fan if you want, but the evidence is overwhelming as hell, as far as I’m concerned. (RELATED: Dolphins’ Jalen Ramsey Gets Into Heated Clash With Eagles Fan And Then Completely Owns Him With Watch Flash)
And then you have this …
Interesting Duane Heydt today’s umpire who made multiple critical calls. (Including a hold that took a TD away. And the roughing the passer penalty on Christian Wilkins.) His crew was suspended from the ACC championship game for unethical refereeing. His family is richer 2nite. pic.twitter.com/27SQvKzhKV
— Mike Williams (@SelfMade0602) October 23, 2023
It just gets better and better.
The Dolphins got SCREWED, and the NFL very well might be RIGGED.