SI

The Refs Were So Bad Sunday That Even the Rules Analyst Couldn’t Defend Them

Also in Traina Thoughts: SNL’s NFL spoof; NFL hypocrisy on full display; Desmond Howard gets wild; and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. The worst kind of problem is the one where there is no solution. I don’t know what the answer is for the NFL having atrocious refs, but it’s a major, major issue.

I don’t want to say the refs cost the Niners the game Sunday since their kicker missed a game-winning field goal on the final play, but the refs couldn’t have helped the Browns any more than they did. 

For starters, this hit, which was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit, was called unnecessary roughness on third-and-10 from the Cleveland 26 with 2:45 left in the game and the 49ers up 17–16.

As if that wasn’t enough to screw San Francisco, the refs then called a holding penalty on the Niners two plays later when there was no holding at all.

Here’s how bad those two calls were: Greg Olsen on Fox criticized each one, and Fox’s rules “expert,” Dean Blandino, said both calls were wrong. The rules experts never say the refs got it wrong, so that’s all you need to know about how inept this crew was.

I know there was a lot of outrage late Sunday night about the refs not throwing a flag on the Bills for holding against Giants tight end Darren Waller on the final play of the Bills’ 14–9 win. 

There was also an atrocious roughing the passer called against the Giants earlier in the game.

And the worst call of the day may have come in the Cardinals-Rams game, when refs somehow ruled that this was not a touchdown.

Here’s the thing about all these calls: These are not difficult calls. These are not calls that can go either way. This is just a group of people being completely awful at their jobs.

The outcome of the Niners-Browns game was 100% affected by the refs. You can make that argument for Bills-Giants, but the Giants still would’ve had to score if the holding penalty was called on the final play, as it should’ve been.

But like I said, I don’t know what the solution is other than there needs to be a way for a separate official in a booth who has the ability to buzz down to the refs to tell them to reverse one of their crappy calls. It may make the games even longer than they are, but it needs to be done because the refs get worse every week.

2. Saturday Night Live this week did a solid spoof for Fox’s NFL pregame crew while mocking all the Travis Kelce–Taylor Swift madness.

3. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. should be celebrated, praised and hyped up for the way he has played this season, including his 302-yard, four-touchdown performance in leading the Huskies to a 36–33 over Oregon on Saturday.

However, when praising Penix, one should be extra careful when pronouncing his last name, as ESPN's Desmond Howard learned on College GameDay on Saturday.

4. The electrifying Tyreek Hill scored a 41-yard touchdown Sunday, grabbed someone’s cellphone and filmed himself doing a flip. In typical NFL fashion, the league made sure to post the video on its social media accounts, yet Hill will be fined for the celebration later in the week since he used a prop. Hypocritical much?

Hill’s excellent celebration was just one of two for the Dolphins on Sunday. 

5. Only WWE fans can appreciate this graphic from CBS.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features a conversation with Monday Night Football’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

Among the topics covered: passing John Madden and Pat Summerall as the longest-tenured network broadcast team in their 22nd year together, Aikman’s relationship with Madden, why Buck will never call baseball for ESPN, Aikman’s opinion on whether the Tush Push should be banned, Tom Brady’s going to Aikman for advice on becoming a television analyst, Aikman’s philosophy for being critical of players, how Aikman would use Twitter to bust Buck’s chops and much more.

Following Buck and Aikman, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss Jerry Seinfeld’s teasing some sort of Seinfeld reunion regarding the series finale. Jimmy also answers reader-submitted questions in a new mailbag segment.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Saturday Night Live used a rare cold open this week, and host (and former cast member) Pete Davidson handled it extremely well.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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