“Soft a** call” – Referees come under fire after a contentious call during the Falcons-Colts game

The Atlanta Falcons won the game 29-10 against the Indianapolis Colts in week 16.

“Soft a** call” – Referees come under fire after a contentious call during the Falcons-Colts game

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) runs against Indianapolis Colts linebacker E.J. Speed (45) during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Via Imago)

The NFL officials came under scrutiny once again during the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons’ game on Sunday. The game took place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It was a game between two teams who were vying for a playoff spot. The Falcons came into the game with a record of 6-8, whereas the Colts held a record of 8-6 through 15 weeks of the season.

The game was close in the first half as the Falcons held a slender 13-7 lead. During the second, the referees came under scrutiny as they called a controversial unnecessary roughness penalty on the Colts’ linebacker E.J. Speed. The refs this season have been under a lot of fire due to their inconsistent officiating throughout the season. This was another instance of the officials making a poor call.

A video of the play was posted on Twitter by Dov Kleiman. The account captioned it as, “The #Colts made a tackle in bounds and were called for Unnecessary Roughness? what are the refs doing?” The play took place when Falcons’ RB Tyler Allgeier was tackled out of bounds.

FS Video

Speed appeared to tackle him as he was heading out of bounds. The hit was clean and was delivered in bounds and was legal, yet the refs called a penalty on Speed.

The Falcons eventually ended up winning the game in blowout fashion as they defeated the Colts 29-10. They improved to 7-8 with the win as the Colts slipped to 8-7. The Falcons will play their next game against the Chicago Bears, whereas the Colts will play the Las Vegas Raiders.

Fans blast the refs for calling an unnecessary roughness penalty on Colts’ LB E.J. Speed

The Atlanta Falcons won their Sunday game against the Indianapolis Colts and improved to 7-8 for the season. However, the game became a talking point due to a controversial call by the referees during the second quarter. They flagged Colts’ LB E.J. Speed for making a hard tackle on the Falcons’ RB Tyler Allgeier.

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith confers with referee Alan Eck (76) during the Christmas Eve
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith confers with referee Alan Eck (76) during the Christmas Eve (Via Imago)

Fans on social media took notice and blasted the referees for the bogus call. The play happened inbounds and yet Speed was flagged for unnecessary roughness. The fans on Twitter were flabbergasted by the call and blamed the refs and the league for the quality of officiating. Here are some of the reactions to the play.

https://twitter.com/panda_smusher/status/1738999874039717995

The Falcons ended up scoring a field goal on that drive and took the lead 10-7. They went on to win the game 29-10. The Colts will hope to bounce back in their next game against the Las Vegas Raiders and strengthen their hopes of a playoff spot.

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