The NFL’s divisional round delivered all the drama you’d expect from playoff football - big plays, high stakes, and yes, a fresh batch of officiating controversies that have fans across the league venting their frustrations once again.
Let’s start with Saturday’s overtime thriller, where Josh Allen looked like he had just made the play to set up a potential game-winning field goal. He hit Brandin Cooks deep, and Cooks appeared to complete the catch before going down.
But before the whistle, Broncos corner Ja'Quan McMillan ripped the ball away. The ruling?
Interception. That call flipped the game on its head.
Denver capitalized on the momentum, marching downfield with help from two crucial pass interference penalties and sealing the win.
Fast forward to Sunday, and suddenly the standard for what’s a catch - and what’s not - seemed to shift. In Houston’s matchup, Texans receiver Xavier Hutchinson caught a pass, went to the ground, and had the ball stripped.
Sound familiar? Later that night, Davante Adams found himself in nearly the same situation during the Bears-Rams clash.
He caught the ball, was going to the ground, and lost it - just like Cooks and Hutchinson. But this time, officials ruled Adams down by contact.
No turnover, no drama.
Same type of play. Completely different outcome. And fans noticed.
Social media lit up with criticism, with many calling out what’s become a recurring theme in the NFL: inconsistent officiating. It’s not just about one call here or there - it’s the feeling that the rules aren’t being applied evenly from game to game, or even from quarter to quarter. And when the stakes are this high, that inconsistency becomes a major storyline.
But not everyone is piling on the officials. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow offered a different perspective, and didn’t hold back in defending the refs - while throwing a bit of shade at the fans.
“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.”
Now, Burrow’s earned the right to speak his mind. But his comments didn’t exactly sit well with fans who feel like they’re watching a different version of the rulebook every weekend. When two nearly identical plays result in opposite outcomes within 24 hours, it’s fair for people to ask questions.
The truth is, this isn’t a new problem. NFL officiating has been under the microscope for years, and the league’s ongoing efforts to clarify the catch rule - not to mention define what constitutes a fumble, down by contact, or possession - haven’t exactly simplified things. Add in the speed of the game and the pressure of playoff football, and it’s a recipe for controversy.
At the end of the day, fans just want consistency. They want to know that what’s ruled an interception on Saturday won’t magically become a completed catch on Sunday. And until the NFL finds a way to deliver that, these kinds of debates aren’t going anywhere.