The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 6-2 after defeating the New York Giants, 26-18, in their Week 8 matchup on Monday Night Football. Fans criticized quarterback Daniel Jones for costing his team the game with an overthrow and interception in the final seconds of the game. However, several incorrect calls from NFL referees occurred during the Steelers-Giants game, prompting former NFL star JJ Watt to weigh in on social media with a subtle jab at the bad referees.
Retweeting his previous post parodying the popular “George Washington” sketch on Saturday Night Live, Watt commented on the seemingly random application of the rules officials match by match. Discover his publications on X, formerly Twitter.
JJ Watt marks the refs during Steelers vs. Giants
JJ Watt’s shots at NFL referees during the Steelers-Giants game in Week 8 were over the call to “rough the passer,” which officials called on the Steelers’ Alex Highsmith after he beat Chris Hubbard during a play in the first half.
Although fans who complain about referees are easy to ignore, since most of them just want the officials to call the game in their teams favor, but if the referees make too many bad calls during too many games, it could signal a deeper problem.
“I think the biggest problem is the lack of competent leadership from our managers, which leads to incompetent referee” said an anonymous general manager via Matt Verderame for Sports Illustrated in a January 2024 report. “We need new leadership in the department, a position that should open up after the season, I think. But there is no consistency at all. It’s not even group to group. It’s the same group in the games.
Meanwhile, an anonymous NFC defensive coordinator weighed in with suggestions on how to improve NFL officiating.
“There is wild inconsistency from week to week and crew to crew,” the DC said. “[We need] full-time civil servants ranked on a universal scale. The richest 20% are promoted and the poorest 20% are fired. Officership should not be a hobby. The players left their part-time jobs 50 years ago. Time to catch up with the officials.
Finally, another AFC DC also suggested changes to specific rules and calls.
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“I would throw punches to the head and facemask that runners use on defenders, which we glorify as stiff arms, illegal. These are blatant hands on the neck and face,” the DC said. “We don’t allow defensive linemen to do that to offensive linemen.”
Outlook
While these suggestions sound good, complaints about poor officiating continue, and this has also affected other professional sports like basketball. For example, questionable calls have decided several NBA games in recent years.
It may take other high-profile voices like JJ Watt to voice their complaints for the league to follow through on any proposed changes.
