Patriots Daily: The NFL Has an Officiating Problem

The New England Patriots lost to the Houston Texans 41-21 yesterday. The final score was not close. Houston took a 27-7 lead in the third quarter, and the outcome was never in doubt from that point on. Because of the 20-point victory margin, the officials cannot be blamed for deciding who won. That said, the officiating in yesterday’s game was atrocious.

New England received nine penalties, against four for Houston. Officials flagged the Patriots 21 times over the past two games on accepted penalties. It is the most in a two-game stretch for New England since 2014. The Patriots have not had more than 21 penalties called against them this late in the season since 1990.

No question, a good portion of this is on the Patriots themselves. They had an illegal formation and defensive offsides penalty to go along with three false starts on the offense. They got called for an ineligible man downfield because Drake Maye didn’t get rid of the ball quickly enough. Those errors are all things that can be corrected, and they should be by this point in the season (aside from Maye who was making his first start in Week 6).

Not Suspicious, Just Subpar

But even though the officials did not determine the game, they were brutal. A defensive pass interference call on Marte Mapu on the opening drive turned a field goal attempt into a touchdown for the Texans. Officials somehow missed a facemask penalty on the Patriots’ first play of the second half that nearly decapitated Antonio Gibson. The next play, Drake Maye fumbled while being sacked, giving Houston the ball at New England’s 10-yard line. Two plays later, the Texans scored to make it 21-7 and never looked back. Later, the Texans received credit for a touchdown when replay showed Dameon Pierce blatantly out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Houston would likely have scored anyway, but the call was another head-scratcher.

🚨🚨🚨THIS IS A AWFUL CALL🚨🚨🚨#TEXANS RB CLEARLY STEPS OUT OF BOUNDS, REFS STILL CALL IT A TOUCHDOWN.

NEW ENGLAND #PATRIOTS GETS SCREWED AGAIN TODAY.

THIS IS CRAZY 😳😳😳
pic.twitter.com/r0oOabBYDT

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) October 13, 2024

Again, the officials did not decide this game, but the NFL needs to do a better job. There are already enough conspiracy theories about which teams get favored or not in games. The league fuels these rumors when the officials do a lousy job. From this perspective, the poor officiating has less to do with conspiracies or favoritism and more to do with incompetence. New England Patriots safety Kyle Dugger got away with a blatant trip on a backfield tackle yesterday, so it wasn’t just a matter of New England getting targeted.

The New England Patriots need to do better, but so do the NFL officials.

Also in Monday’s Patriots Daily:

Patriots Fact/Trivia of the Day

The Patriots committed 21 penalties over their past two games. It is tied for the eight-most penalties in a two-game stretch in franchise History. The 1977 New England Patriots hold the franchise record with 25 (Weeks 1-2), followed by the 2014 team with 24 (also Weeks 1-2).

There were 23 penalties accepted against the 1985 Patriots (Weeks 13-14) and 1990 squad (Week 14-15). Three times they have had 22 over consecutive games.

Post of the Day

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s first NFL touchdown pass was a beauty. He found Kayshon Boutte for a 40-yard score as the first half came to an end:

Drake Maye DIME for his first career touchdown pass!

📺: #HOUvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/psTLjZvOoK

— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024

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