Referee from Bucs-Ravens game.Referee from Bucs-Ravens game. (Photos via ESPN)


Football fans are teeing off on the NFL refs and accusing them of “rigging” the Baltimore Ravens-Tampa Bay Buccaneers after making two head-scratching calls that took touchdowns off the board for both clubs.

The first questionable by the NFL refs today took place in the first quarter, when Baker Mayfield’s touchdown strike to Chris Godwin was called back by a holding penalty on All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs Jr:

That took seven off the board and forced the Buccaneers to settle for a field goal, taking a 10-0 lead instead of a more significant 14-0 lead.

The second controversial call by the NFL refs in this contest came in the second quarter, when Daniel Faalele was flagged for holding to take a Lamar Jackson rushing touchdown off the board:

Those two questionable calls have fans convinced that the refs are “rigging” the over/under for, which was set at 50.5:

The good news for the Ravens is that the questionable call against Faalele did no damage, as Justice Hill scored on an 18-yard touchdown reception anyway.

NFL Refs Were Flag-Happy In First Half Of Bucs vs. Ravens

Well, let’s just say that fans who are part of the “Let them play” crowd won’t be pleased with head official Alex Kemp and his crew tonight. A total of nine penalties (six against Baltimore, three against Tampa) were called for 90 yards over the first 30 minutes.