An NFL officiating crew has been reassigned from a high-profile primetime matchup after its penalty-heavy performance in Week 7 sparked frustration among players, coaches and viewers.
Alex Moore’s crew drew the ire of the Green Bay Packers throughout their 20-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. Fox analyst Tom Brady repeatedly challenged the officials’ decisions during a game that featured a steady stream of flags.
According to Football Zebras, Moore and his crew will no longer work this week’s Sunday Night Football meeting between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
The officials have instead been assigned to the less prominent Week 8 contest between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.
Brady, the former superstar quarterback now working as a television analyst, questioned several controversial rulings made at Ford Field, many of which went against Green Bay.
After Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks was penalized for roughing the passer late in the fourth quarter, Brady voiced his frustration on Fox. ‘You can’t keep tacking on 15 yards,’ he said, calling the decision one of several questionable calls in the nationally televised game.
Alex Moore’s officiating crew has been removed from this week’s Sunday Night Football assignment following a controversial game
Tom Brady repeatedly challenged the officials during the penalty-filled game he called for Fox
Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino, a former NFL vice president of officiating, backed Brady’s assessment. ‘This is teach-tape tackle. That’s not roughing the passer,’ Blandino said.
Brady and Blandino also questioned a separate roughing-the-passer call against Green Bay defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. in the third quarter, although their criticism was less emphatic.
The broadcast team was also puzzled when Packers quarterback Jordan Love was flagged for intentional grounding on a delayed call.
‘Tucker Kraft was right there,’ Brady said, noting that the pass was ‘certainly in the direction’ of the tight end and ‘definitely not grounding.’
‘They really missed that call,’ Brady added. Play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt described the penalty as ‘crazy,’ while Blandino agreed with the broadcast’s analysis.
‘So we ruled that although the quarterback was outside of the tackle box, the pass did not make it to the line of scrimmage,’ Moore explained to a pool reporter after the game.
‘So, that’s where the intentional grounding came in.’
Moore added that it was not enough for the throw to travel generally toward Kraft. If the ball did not reach the line of scrimmage, he said, it had to actually reach the receiver’s location to avoid an intentional grounding penalty.
‘That is not grounding,’ Blandino responded during the telecast.
Aidan Hutchinson sacks Jordan Love on Sunday in Detroit. Officials did not penalize the hit
Brady also disagreed with a call against Detroit, arguing that Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes should not have been flagged for unnecessary roughness after making contact with running back MarShawn Lloyd following an incomplete pass.
‘He’s just turning his right shoulder away from it,’ Brady said. ‘That’s allowed 99 out of 100 times. It’s a bang-bang play. When you’re on the field, you’ve got to pursue that ball. If he catches it, he needs the force to knock him on the ground as a pass defense.’
Another disputed decision came in the third quarter. After catching a pass, Detroit wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was tackled but began running again. Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt pursued him and brought him down, only to be penalized for unnecessary roughness. Two plays later, Jared Goff connected with Jameson Williams for a 10-yard touchdown.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and Wyatt both said after the game that they never heard a whistle before St. Brown rose and continued running.
‘We ruled the play was over,’ Moore told a pool reporter. ‘I can’t honestly hear if there was a whistle or not, but the tackler made the tackle, the play was over. Then, there was an additional action, and he basically tackled him again with force after the play was over.’
‘Yeah, well, there was no whistle blown,’ LaFleur said. ‘And the guy continued to run. And our guy didn’t hear a whistle. He continued to play, too. And then we get called for penalties.
‘So, I don’t know. They were trying to tell me that the play was obviously dead. I’m like, “How do you know if you don’t hear a whistle?”‘
