Prior to the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 16 game against the Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver Puka Nacua went on a controversial podcast. While the timing wasn’t great, what Nacua said was even worse. The Rams wide receiver implied that NFL referees make calls just to get shown on TV during games.
On a livestream with Adin Ross and N3on, Nacua was quoted saying,
”The refs are the worst…They want to be on TV too. You don’t think he’s texting his friends in the group chat like, ‘Yo, you guys just saw me on “Sunday Night Football.” That wasn’t P.I., but I called it.’”
Whether or not you believe Nacua had a point is irrelevant. NFL referees have a difficult job and making game-changing calls in real time under a microscope is bound to get criticism. At the same time, it’s not a smart thing to put more attention on yourself or the team when it comes to NFL officiating. A player that is known for being handsy in coverage or taking a play too far is probably going to get penalized more than a player that doesn’t. That’s partially what Nacua did. He gave officials a reason to look.
Since Nacua made those comments, the Rams’ two most-penalized games this season have come in the four games that followed. Throughout the Sean McVay era, and especially this year, the offense has been one of the most disciplined units in football. Over the last four weeks, the offense has accounted for a disproportionate share of the team’s penalties. They’ve accounted for an average of 3.25 penalties per game to the defense’s two. Before Week 16, that ratio was 1.9 penalties per game on offense to 1.7 penalties per game on defense. Let’s also consider:
- Rams have been penalized eight or more times in two of the previous four games.
- Before Week 16, the Rams had been penalized at most seven times back in Week 1.
- Rams went from averaging 4.2 penalties per game to 6.3.
- Offense has 13 penalties to eight on the defense.
- 83 penalty yards vs. Panthers are most for Rams since WC weekend last year.
- Rams had +10 advantage on penalties resulting in first down. Since Week 16, they are -2.
This isn’t to blame the refs for the Rams’ shortcomings over the last month or preface a potential playoff loss with the referees being a primary factor. It isn’t the refs that put the Rams down 21-0 against the Atlanta Falcons. The referees also didn’t allow a punt return for a touchdown and three two-point conversions in the loss to the Seahawks in Week 16.
At the same time, the numbers show that there has been an uptick in Rams penalties over the last month. There has been a shift. Taking the season as a whole, the Rams had a net total of 44 penalties for 331 yards. That’s been -3 penalties for -30 yards over the last four weeks.
Partially why this is odd is because of how disciplined the Rams have been under Sean McVay. Since 2020, the Rams have never ranked outside the top-10 among the least-penalized teams in the NFL. In fact, they’ve spent back-to-back years as the least-penalized team and have been inside the top-five four times in the last five years.
NFL officiating is at a tipping point, especially with the prominence of sports betting. The consistency in which the NFL uses replay assist and how things are called from crew to crew and game to game is losing fan trust. Every week there are several calls in which the broadcast rules analyst is brought on to explain why the field officials are incorrect or how they don’t agree with the on-field call.
During Wild Card Weekend alone, there were several of these instances. In the Jaguars-Bills game, video replay showed the clock hitting zero before Trevor Lawrence was able to get the offense set and snap the ball at the end of the first half. NFL officials still gave the Jaguars the play and allowed them to kick a field goal. During the 49ers-Eagles game, a touchdown was taken off the board because of an ineligible man downfield penalty. However, after the penalty was announced, it was corrected and the touchdown was awarded. The same situation happened to the Rams against the Seahawks when Justin Dedich was called for ineligible man downfield while engaged with a defender. In that case, the flag was not picked up or get replay assist to ensure the correct call was made.
During the offseason, the NFL passed a new rule to allow facemask penalties to fall under replay assist after what happened in the Rams-Vikings game last year. However, obvious facemask penalties are still getting missed and the correct call isn’t getting made with replay assist.
Again, this isn’t to say that the Rams are going to lose because of NFL officiating. Good teams overcome those mistakes. If the Rams lose it will be because of their own doing. Still, the rise in penalties since Nacua’s incident before Week 16 is certainly worth mentioning.
