Week 16 was not an outstanding event to Madden NFL 23 officiating. There were the usual foul helmet-to-helmet errors (Panthers cornerback Josh Norman's strike against Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins on Madden 23 Coins the first play in the second half for their game). There were doubtful inbounds/out of bounds calls (Vikings tight end Rhett Ellison's touchdown/not touchdown just before halftime could have been an actual touchdown). It had some shaky roughness rulings on tackles at the sideline (seriously, Vikings linebacker Gerald Hodges initiated contact with Dolphins rookie receiver Jarvis Landry decidedly in bounds but was penalized after taking his opponent to the ground). It also had a quarterback mishap that was judged to be insufficient without review (Big Ben's hand was empty as hell when he was thrown by the Chiefs).
There was one unforgivable call that was so outrageous I'm certain that the official who made it cannot be permitted to be in the vicinity of any playoff games. It was the ridiculous taunting penalty called by Steelers cornerback William Gay after a particularly amazing, unspectacular move made by Steelers middle linebacker Lawrence Timmons on third down.
Imagine this, the Steelers found themselves up 17-6 in the must-win game at 12:39 to play in the fourth period. The opponent was the Chiefs, was facing the third-and-17 option from their own 23-yard line. The Steelers were, naturally, had a tough time playing off the receivers, shielding everything deep, and forced Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith to dump the ball off short for tight end Travis Kelce. Timmons was away from the formation while covering, but was picked off and made one-on-one tackles in the field, resulting in a gain of of just two yards. It might have appeared like just a routine play since it wasn't likely that Kelce would have gained enough yardage to score the first down. If you really look at the play, it's important to be amazed by how fast Timmons was moving and to be able to gather himself to form a secure tackle. It's not like routine or simple.
So far as I could discern, one of these naivete decided to throw the flag because he believed Gay was taunting the Chiefs player, when there wasn't even one in the area. All because he was standing there with Buy Madden 23 Coins his arms crossed. Dassit. They all refused to glance towards the Jumbotron to see just what a ridiculous call they were making.
The Wall