Blown Calls Return to Dog NFL's Week 8

An erroneous whistle took a defensive touchdown away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. An early whistle cost the New York Giants a fumble recovery on a tush push. It was a rough Sunday for NFL officials. And the AP reports that Giants coach Brian Daboll was apoplectic after Darius Slayton was penalized for offensive pass interference, negating a 68-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter of a 38-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell clearly held Slayton's jersey and arm on the play, but Slayton got flagged in one of the most egregious blown calls of the season. "I'm not going to comment on what I think on officials. They call it and we got to play it," Daboll said, doing his best to avoid a fine.

Earlier in the game, Jalen Hurts lost the ball when he stretched his arms after gaining a first down on a tush push on fourth-and-1 inside the red zone. Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball away from Hurts for what should've been a fumble recovery in a game that was tied at 7-7. A whistle could be heard on replay about the same time or after the ball came out but officials ruled Hurts' forward progress had been stopped. The Eagles kept the ball and finished the drive with a touchdown. "The refs have a hard job because they don't know when to stop it," Thibodeaux said of the tush push.

In New Orleans, Tampa Bay's Antoine Winfield Jr. picked up a fumble and returned it 47 yards for a score with the Buccaneers leading 7-0 in the second quarter. But an official blew his whistle after the recovery so the Buccaneers got the ball but lost the points. Neither team stopped playing after the whistle, which came from the other side of the field. "The official thought the runner was down," referee Ron Torbert said. "We were able to award the defense the ball after the fumble but because the whistle had been blown, we could not award the advance afterward."

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The Buccaneers beat the Saints 23-3 so the mistake didn't impact the outcome but poor officiating is always a concern. "I'm still (ticked) off over some of it," Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. "We've got to do something. We'll discuss that with the league and go from there." Penalties were up 8.6% from last season through Week 7. (Refs aren't the only ones making bad decisions.)