At every turn, a new indignity. The calls and missed calls were bad enough, the fact that they combined to cost the Bears Monday night’s game was even worse, and the fact that the league has stubbornly stood by its crap sundae for almost a week now is just an added groinstomp cherry.
Today, there’s even more.
It turns out, the league knows they blew it. They just won’t say it publicly:
Members of the NFL’s officiating department privately acknowledged that officials erred on at least three critical calls and non-calls that went against the #Bears on Monday night.
From me and @RapSheet: https://t.co/VqN9Pa7iiY
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 14, 2021
The three blown calls – at a minimum – that the league is privately acknowledging:
1.) The BS “low block” call on James Daniels that negated a Justin Fields touchdown pass.
2.) The failure to throw a flag on the subsequent late hit on Fields.
3.) Multiple Steelers lined up offsides on the final Bears field goal attempt.
Note that they are not going to say the call on the Cassius Marsh “taunting” penalty was wrong because they can hide behind a judgment call – even if it shows atrocious judgment – but any of the above could have changed the game. It’s great that the league cam privately admit how bad the crew performed on Monday, and how it screwed the Bears. Real profile in courage.