The NFL’s divisional round delivered everything fans expect from playoff football-intensity, drama, and high-stakes moments. But it also delivered something fans have grown all too used to: officiating decisions that leave everyone scratching their heads. And this weekend, the confusion around what exactly constitutes a catch took center stage yet again.
Let’s start with Saturday’s overtime thriller. Josh Allen dropped back and fired a deep ball to Brandin Cooks that looked like it might set up a game-winning field goal.
Cooks hauled it in, his knee hit the turf, and then Broncos corner Ja’Quan McMillan ripped the ball away. The ruling?
Interception. Denver took over and marched down the field, aided by a pair of pass interference calls, and punched their ticket to the next round.
Fast forward to Sunday, and the deja vu was real. First, Texans wideout Xavier Hutchinson caught a pass and went to the ground, only to have the ball stripped away. Then, in the nightcap between the Bears and Rams, Davante Adams made a similar catch-ball secured, defender rips it out-but this time, the officials ruled Adams down by contact.
If you’re a fan watching at home, it’s tough not to feel like the rulebook is being applied with a dartboard. Saturday’s play gets ruled one way, Sunday’s nearly identical moment gets called the opposite. And in a league where every possession in the playoffs is gold, that kind of inconsistency doesn’t just frustrate-it infuriates.
Naturally, fans didn’t hold back. Social media lit up with criticism of the officiating, with many calling out the NFL for what they see as a lack of consistency and clarity in the rules.
And honestly, it’s hard to blame them. The “what is a catch?”
debate has been plaguing the league for years, and moments like these only add fuel to the fire.
But not everyone sees it that way. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow jumped into the conversation and came to the defense of the officials, offering a take that raised more than a few eyebrows.
“The amount of [people] that don’t understand what a catch is in the rule book flabbergasts me,” Burrow said. “And it’s not the officials. The two plays yesterday were not difficult calls, and they got them both right.”
Burrow’s confidence in the rulebook is clear, and he’s certainly within his rights to speak his mind. But for fans who watched nearly identical plays get ruled differently in back-to-back games, his comments probably felt like a slap in the face. It’s not that people don’t know the rule-it’s that the rule seems to change depending on the game, the crew, or the moment.
And that’s the heart of the issue. NFL officiating isn’t under fire because fans don’t understand the rulebook.
It’s under fire because, too often, it feels like the rulebook isn’t being applied the same way from one play to the next. In a postseason where every snap matters, the league can’t afford to have fans-and players-questioning the integrity of the calls.
The NFL has made strides in recent years to clarify the catch rule, but weekends like this show there’s still a long way to go. Until the league finds a way to bring true consistency to its officiating, the frustration isn’t going anywhere.