Officiating crew that ruined Raiders’ playoff game are done for the season
At least Saturday’s officiating crew won’t ruin another playoff game this year like they did to the Las Vegas Raiders in the Wild Card round.
The Las Vegas Raiders are done with the playoffs and there is a myriad of reasons for it. It can be argued that the Silver and Black did a lot of damage to their chances by committing a litany of penalties. These penalties cost the Raiders key yardage and hurt their ability to put up points against the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, the officiating in yesterday’s game was downright putrid, and it was surely embarrassing for the NFL, especially in the game that kicked off the playoffs. Luckily, more teams have been spared from suffering a similar fate as Las Vegas.
Raiders game referee Jerome Boger and Co. are done this year.
Putting hybrid officiating crews together for the postseason got off to a rough start yesterday. In a game where the Raiders and Bengals should’ve dominated the headlines, the referees ended up taking the spotlight, which is not what the NFL wanted.
Fortunately, the league has pulled the plug on Boger and the crew from yesterday’s disastrous display. ESPN Insider Adam Schefter reported today that Boger, in particular, won’t be receiving any more assignments this season.
The highlight of the night came in the second quarter, right before halftime. Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd appeared to have caught a touchdown pass from Joe Burrow after a whistle from the officials was clearly heard. Burrow himself threw the pass very close to the sideline simultaneously. After a lengthy conversation among the referees, it was ruled a touchdown and gave Cincinnati the lead, 20-6. The NFL’s senior VP of officiating, Walt Anderson, issued a statement confirming that the crew did not “feel that the whistle was blown before the receiver caught the ball.”
Raiders fans are surely pleased with this decision, though it does little to ease the pain of seeing their team get eliminated.