5 ridiculous refereeing errors in NFL playoffs ft. Tom Brady
The NFL playoffs are the most critical time on the footballing calendar, and the biggest games should have the best officials the league has to offer.
While this is the case the majority of the time, there have been many instances across the league's history where referees have made blunders that have cost teams a chance at a Super Bowl crown. Here are five of the worst examples of errors made by referees costing teams in the NFL playoffs.
NFL playoffs: the most noteworthy refereeing errors
#5 - Nickell Robey-Coleman’s pass interference
The 2019 NFC Championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints should be remembered for young head coach Sean McVay leading his team to the Super Bowl but is instead remembered for a blatant missed pass interference call by refs by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis.
The game was tied in the fourth quarter, and the Saints were looking to chew the clock and kick a field goal, but the missed call by the officials forced them to kick the FG with enough time for the Rams to score their own field goal to take the game to overtime, where they eventually won.
After the game, Saints head coach Sean Peyton said:
“I don’t know if there was ever a more obvious pass-interference call than that.”
We would agree with him!
The Lions have signed corner Nickell Robey-Coleman per @RapSheet.
Most will remember him from this infamous no call against the Saints.
https://t.co/Ewl3Yb8mHT
#4 - Don Chandler’s missed kick
Green Bay Packers' Don Chandler will go down as one of the best kickers in the history of the team. Against the Baltimore Colts in 1965, luck was on his side.
He badly shanked a field goal, but back judge Jim Tunney signaled it was good, much to the dismay of the Colts. Chandler's body language suggested he knew he missed too, making a mistake all the more confusing. This tied the game up 10-10, and the Packers would win in overtime, which sent them to the NFL Championship game.
They would win that game, too, in the last year before the Super Bowl era began. None of this would have been possible if Tunney had done his job correctly that day.