NFL Officiating Hits a Breaking Point: When Common Sense Gets Overruled
If you watched the Ravens-Steelers game this past Sunday, chances are you’re still shaking your head over the Isaiah Likely non-catch. And if you’ve been following the NFL over the past few weeks, you’re probably wondering the same thing a lot of players, coaches, and fans are: What exactly is a catch anymore?
Let’s rewind to Week 8. Packers vs.
Steelers. Roman Wilson hauls in a pass in the back of the end zone.
He elevates, secures the ball, gets both feet down-left, then right-and even takes an extra step before the ball is knocked loose. NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay summed it up clearly: “It’s absolutely a catch.”
And honestly, it was hard to argue. The play looked like a textbook touchdown.
It felt like a touchdown. Even the chaotic world of social media, where consensus is rare, seemed to agree: that was six points.
Fast forward to this past weekend. Ravens-Steelers.
Roman Wilson’s first career NFL touchdown. #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/vJYfxY5sPD
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) October 27, 2025
Fourth quarter. Tight game.
Isaiah Likely makes a grab, gets two feet down, and is heading into what looks like a third step before the ball is knocked out. CBS’s Tony Romo immediately says, “One, two, that will stand.”
But it didn’t. After review, the call was reversed.
The officials told Ravens head coach John Harbaugh that Likely didn’t complete the third step-no catch. A few plays later, Baltimore turns the ball over on downs and eventually loses the game.
Now, if you squint hard enough, maybe you can see where the officials were coming from. Maybe.
But even if you grant them that sliver of rationale, it doesn’t change the bigger issue: officiating has become a weekly storyline-and not in a good way. This wasn’t an isolated incident.
It was just the latest in a string of confusing, game-altering decisions that have left fans and teams alike wondering what’s going on.
Let’s take a quick tour of recent calls that have raised eyebrows across the league:
- Commanders vs. Broncos (Sunday Night Football): A phantom false start led directly into a misapplied intentional grounding penalty.
This go ahead touchdown to Isaiah Likely was ruled incomplete for the Ravens...
— Underdog (@Underdog) December 7, 2025
Thoughts 😬pic.twitter.com/5IHm9eICha
Momentum killer. Drive killer.
- Cowboys vs. [Opponent] (Thursday Night Football): Jake Ferguson was flagged for offensive pass interference on what looked like a routine inside swim move-something tight ends do all the time to create separation. Even the in-booth rules analyst said the call was wrong.
The NBC SNF crew disagreed with consecutive penalties against the Commanders on the final drive of regulation vs the Broncos.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2025
Rules analyst Terry McAulay: "This is absolutely not (intentional) grounding, guys." 🏈🦓🎙️ #NFL #SNF pic.twitter.com/lRzZhfqEGG
- **Texans vs. Colts (Nov.
30):** This one was a mess from start to finish. Multiple questionable calls swung momentum back and forth, including a couple that were so confusing they couldn’t even be fully addressed in the postgame pool report.
One came before an extra point attempt where it wasn’t even clear if the kick was good.
Each of these moments chipped away at the credibility of officiating. But the Likely play?
That one felt like a tipping point. Because it wasn’t just about one bad call-it was about the growing sense that the rulebook, as it stands, is no longer serving the game.
Jake Ferguson called forOPI on this play really changesthe outcome of this game @Rate_the_Refs what do you think pic.twitter.com/WBoAWVhqxS
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhifer) December 5, 2025
The NFL has spent years crafting a product built on razor-thin margins. Every game is a one-possession battle.
Every snap matters. That’s what makes the league so compelling.
But when those margins are decided by inconsistent or overly technical interpretations of the rules, it undermines everything.
The league loves to tout its parity. And to be fair, this season has the potential to deliver one of the most wide-open playoff races in years.
New faces, new contenders, and a real shake-up from the usual Mahomes-Burrow-Allen-Lamar hierarchy. But instead of celebrating that, we’re stuck talking about officiating.
Again.
And it’s not just fans venting. Coaches are stuck in a bind too.
If they speak out, they risk fines. If they stay silent, it looks like they’re accepting the status quo.
Either way, the message is clear: just win by more so the refs don’t decide the game for you. That’s not a solution-it’s a cop-out.
What the NFL needs isn’t more rules. It’s better application of the ones already in place.
Plays like Wilson’s should be the standard. Clear control, two feet down, and a football move.
That’s a catch. It doesn’t need to be over-legislated.
It doesn’t need to be parsed like legal code. It just needs to make sense.
There’s a concept in constitutional law called “unenumerated rights”-truths so fundamental that they don’t need to be spelled out. Maybe it’s time the NFL borrowed a page from that book.
Some things in football should be obvious. A catch should look and feel like a catch.
A penalty should be called when there’s actual intent or impact, not just when a receiver uses a common technique to get open.
This isn’t about perfection. No one expects officiating to be flawless. But when the system creates confusion week after week, when it starts deciding outcomes more than the players on the field, something’s broken.
After a missed delay of game penalty and a phantom defensive holding penalty helped set up a Houston TD with an optical illusion PAT, J.J. Watt advises Colts fans to grab a drink.
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) November 30, 2025
Good color analysis, imo. pic.twitter.com/CEqjksRnsM
So yes, we’ll keep talking about the Likely call. But it’s not just about that one play.
It’s about a pattern. A trend.
A growing disconnect between what we see and what the rulebook says. And until that gap is closed, we’ll keep having these conversations-long after the final whistle blows.