Joe Buck, Fox basically said it wasn’t worth trying to explain a ref’s call Thursday
If there has been a recurring theme during the 2019 NFL season, it’s been the inconsistent work of the officials.
We’ve moved from not knowing what a catch is to not being able to determine pass interference, even if replay clearly shows it.
Perhaps the peak moment of the officiating oddity came during Thursday night’s Raiders-Chargers game in Oakland, California.
Two penalties were called during a Raiders punt, which was returned to the Oakland 49-yard line: holding on the Chargers and unnecessary roughness on the Raiders.
Referee Walt Anderson announced the penalties and said ... nothing would happen. The penalties were offsetting but the down wasn’t replayed.
Anderson announced: “By rule ... those fouls, the enforcement will be at the dead ball spot. It’ll be Los Angeles ball. First down.”
It was confusing, but Fox Sports’ Joe Buck told viewers that rules expert Mike Pereira would explain what had happened after a commercial break.
“We’ll have Mike go through that for you when we come back,” Buck said.
However, when Fox returned, Buck said: “We’ve decided against Mike explaining the penalty. Let’s just accept the fact the ball is at the 49 of Oakland and move on with our lives.”
Troy Aikman could be heard chuckling as Buck made the proclamation.
Yep, we’ve come to that point in the NFL season where explaining officiating decisions isn’t worth the effort/possible.
Earlier this week, Aikman tweeted that officiating had been a problem:
This story was originally published November 8, 2019 at 9:07 AM.
