NFL Referees Struggle Badly In Week 7 With Several Highly-Controversial & Outcome-Altering Calls

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Last year, I wrote several times about the NFL referee problem. A major reason why some fans believe the NFL is fixed is because of poor officiating.

Quite honestly, I believe this season has been better. Not perfect -- far from it -- but at least I've seen some improvement.

However, on Sunday of Week 7, the NFL referee problem showed up in a big way. Officials impacted the outcomes of several games, which is the last thing the NFL wants to see.

NFL referees made multiple game-altering calls on Sunday in Week 7, including in the Colts-Browns and Steelers-Rams games.

The worst examples came in the thrilling Cleveland Browns win over the Indianapolis Colts. That game featured eight (!!) lead changes, the most in an NFL game in four years.

However, many people question whether or not that eighth lead change should have happened. Not once but twice, referees called questionable penalties on the Colts defense that ultimately allowed the Browns to score the game-winning touchdown.

The illegal contact penalty came on a third-and-4 where the Colts sacked Browns QB PJ Walker for a 13-yard loss. The chances that Cleveland scores without that penalty are not good. The pass interference moved the ball from second-and-goal at the 8-yard line to first-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Big calls that both went against the Colts and were questionable, at best.

The other major call came in the Pittsburgh Steelers road upset win over the Los Angeles Rams. Pittsburgh elected to go for a fourth-and-1 from the Los Angeles 39-yard line rather than attempt at 56-yard field goal.

Quarterback Kenny Pickett ran the sneak play and clearly did not reach the line-to-gain for a first down. But, NFL referees ruled that he did.

The problem is that the Rams used all of their timeouts and this play occurred just prior to the two-minute warning. That meant that there was no way to initiate instant replay, which certainly would have reversed the call.

If referees had ruled the play properly, the Rams take over the football at that spot trailing by a touchdown. Would they have won the game? We don't know. What we do know is that the ruling effectively ended the game.

The Steelers kneeled three times and won.

Games cannot end this way. Do I think the NFL is rigged? No, I don't.

But, do I understand why some people think it is? Yes, I do.

And the biggest reason is NFL referees.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.