Titans Fans Are Convinced The Refs Screwed Them Out Of A Super Bowl Appearance With A Couple Of Terrible Calls
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It’s been exactly one year since the Saints took on the Rams in an NFC Championship game that featured one of the most spectacularly blown calls in recent memory; a call that forced the NFL to overhaul its rulebook thanks to the outcry that resulted from no flag being flown on one of the most blatant pass interference penalties you’ll ever see.
The change in policy didn’t do much to assuage New Orleans fans who saw their team essentially get screwed out of a chance to appear in the Super Bowl and it actually ended up causing even more controversies thanks to the unwillingness of the league’s referees to overturn their original pass interference rulings.
At least they tried.
On Sunday, the 49ers and the Chiefs both punched their tickets to The Big Game and will head to Miami in a couple of weeks to fight for the right to take the Lombardi Trophy back to their city. Packers fans have no one to blame but a Green Bay team that was thoroughly outplayed, but Titans fans are having a harder time coming to terms with the loss, as many of them are convinced the refs played a major role in their team’s defeat.
The crux of the argument rests on two plays that occurred during the second half. The first one happened in the third quarter, where a referee appeared to throw a flag to call a holding penalty as soon as the ball was snapped.
The ref literally threw the flag for holding against the Titans the moment the ball was snapped. This game is being blatantly rigged for the Chiefs. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/FMusBHL9vC
— bing bong (@bingbong223) January 19, 2020
The video began to spread like wildfire, but after further review, it would appear the outrage was misplaced, as another ref correctly spotted a hold and the flag that was thrown by the other official was for an illegal formation that was eventually recalled after a discussion (it also appeared the Chiefs had managed to make the stop anyway).
Regarding the viral holding call "at the snap": The snap isn't from the center, so originally flagged as illegal formation, but correctly picked up. TEN71 holds in proximity to the handoff, flag by Tony Corrente is offscreen. Should have announced the pickup, but all checks out pic.twitter.com/kKRGYgumOE
— Fᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ Zᴇʙʀᴀs (@footballzebras) January 19, 2020
However, Titans fans may have a more legitimate gripe over their team being called for pass interference facing a 35-24 deficit with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after Tramaine Brock was flagged while apparently cleanly defending a pass that would’ve forced the Chiefs to punt.
How is this pass interference lmao pic.twitter.com/NS6afn5Ran
— john (@iam_johnw) January 19, 2020
This was called pass interference on the Titans. pic.twitter.com/e9JdX56lc0
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) January 19, 2020
Kansas City was spotted a cool 41 yards thanks to the call but Mike Vrabel opted to hold on to his final timeout instead of throwing a flag of his own, which may have been a wise move considering the success rate on these kind of reviews this season.
The Chiefs ultimately milked a couple of more minutes of clock to essentially put the game away, and while there’s no chance the Titans would have been able to mount a comeback even if the call had gone their way, that’s not going to stop plenty of Tennessee fans from wondering “What if?”
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via https://DMT.NEWS
Connor Toole, DMT.NEWS
