{"id":433149,"date":"2026-01-25T23:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T23:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/433149\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T23:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T23:02:16","slug":"nfl-fans-rip-referees-after-confounding-sequence-in-broncos-patriots-afc-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/433149\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Fans Rip Referees After Confounding Sequence in Broncos-Patriots AFC Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Broncos hosted the Patriots on Sunday in the AFC championship game for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. But, as has been the case throughout this postseason<\/a>, a questionable call by the referees ended up a dominant storyline in the first half. <\/p>\n

Backup Jarrett Stidham played pretty well in place of Bo Nix to start the game for Denver. He threw a deep bomb on the second possession<\/a> of the game before opening up the scoring by throwing a touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton. The Broncos\u2019 defense proved ready to go from the opening whistle and completely shut down Drake Maye\u2019s offense. It was all going Denver\u2019s way. <\/p>\n

Then, halfway through the second quarter, Stidham dropped back to pass and panicked upon feeling the pressure. He got flushed out of the pocket immediately and tried to fling the ball away as New England defenders tackled the QB.<\/p>\n

From the broadcast view, it wasn\u2019t clear whether he actually got rid of the ball or fumbled. It was even less clear on the field, where one referee acted like it was a fumble while others blew their whistles to signal an incomplete pass. The Patriots\u2019 defense, not totally sure what was going on, grabbed the loose football and ran into the end zone. <\/p>\n

Play is ruled a fumble and @Patriots<\/a> ball <\/p>\n

NEvsDEN on CBS\/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/KIe2UPl47Q<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NFL (@NFL) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Initially the officials called it an incomplete pass and threw a flag for intentional grounding. Replay showed it was pretty close to a forced fumble by the New England defense, though, and coach Mike Vrabel seemed ready to challenge it. But then the call was changed to a fumble, as Stidham\u2019s incomplete pass had traveled backwards. But because at least one ref blew the whistle, the Patriots\u2019 return couldn\u2019t count and Vrabel was unable to challenge the ruling. The final call by the refs was a backwards pass by Stidham recovered by the Pats, resulting in New England possession in Denver red zone. <\/p>\n

Refs rule this a backwards pass and not a fumble, even though the Patriots recovered the ball and ran it for a touchdown the ball cannot be advanced. pic.twitter.com\/UzPam0CnkN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

It was an absolute disaster of a sequence for the refs, as well as CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, and led to plenty of ridicule from everyone watching. <\/p>\n

Tf was that lmao<\/p>\n

\u2014 kofie.substack.com (@Kofie) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t get how a pass that ends up in front of the passer is a backward pass but carry on<\/p>\n

\u2014 Les Bowen (@LesBowen) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Might be the worst officiating I\u2019ve ever seen<\/p>\n

\u2014 Chris Infante (@Infante54) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

You could read Vrabel’s lips pretty easily and i’m paraphrasing “Why did you blow the (bleep) whistle?”<\/p>\n

\u2014 Judy Battista (@judybattista) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

If the Patriots don’t get a TD out of this I think Mike Vrabel should be allowed to fight one official.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

These refs have no idea what\u2019s going on<\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Modi (@JediModi) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The officials just astound in the NFL far too often. <\/p>\n

You see the most ridiculous crap allowed to play out every week, and THAT is the play they decided to blow the whistle on.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

*refs say it\u2019s a forward pass*<\/p>\n

Gene Steratore: \u201cHe pushes the ball forward, it\u2019s clearly a forward pass\u201d<\/p>\n

*refs change the call and say it was a backward pass*<\/p>\n

Gene: \u201cIt\u2019s clearly backwards\u201d<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd21<\/p>\n

\u2014 Zach Reger (@zachreger18) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Definition of the kind of mistake you\u2019d anticipate from a backup QB. <\/p>\n

Jarrett Stidham trying to backpedal his way away from pressure. <\/p>\n

Right call eventually made \u2014 after all kinds of deliberation and an initial officiating screwup \u2014 and the backward pass gives NE possession.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Gene Steratore getting this one wrong 3 separate times trying to agree with the refs while the refs changed their own minds, legendary stuff<\/p>\n

\u2014 Andrew Cooper (@CoopAFiasco) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Jarrett Stidham throws a backward pass and it’s #Patriots<\/a> ball. <\/p>\n

The refs blew it dead, so the touchdown doesn’t count… <\/p>\n

Should’ve let the play finish. That’s brutal… pic.twitter.com\/OEO6liyKBz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Lights were wayyyyyyyy too bright for the refs there lol<\/p>\n

\u2014 Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

All the refs have to do is just let every play that\u2019s up in the air go and they can\u2019t even do that man<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ben Houselog (@benlikessport) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

On the one hand, refs fixed the call to reflect a fumble from Jarrett Stidham, giving the Patriots the ball.<\/p>\n

On the other, it was a clear scoop and score from the Patriots, and so even giving them the ball doesn’t fully rectify the call.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

A very messy showing from the officials. Fortunately for the Patriots, the mistakes didn\u2019t end up mattering\u2014New England got possession of the ball and scored a few plays later on a Drake Maye run. But the tens of millions of viewers who tune in to watch these NFL playoff games are clearly frustrated by the regular mistakes made by the officiating crews across the league each week. <\/p>\n

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