The past two Super Bowls—otherwise outstanding games—have been mired in late drama concerning NFL officiating. A holding penalty on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry against JuJu Smith-Schuster basically sealed the game for the Chiefs. It felt very reminiscent of the phantom holding call against Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson last season. In both cases, it was almost like fans and players didn’t think anything of the play until a flag was thrown and the yellow graphic shown on the screen. And on top of it, whether justified or not, fans were already upset with the AFC Championship Game officiating this season.
The Wilson call in Super Bowl LVI was arguably clearly worse, but the way Super Bowl LVII ended also feels disappointing. Here’s some of the top reaction to the Bradberry holding call.
Hmmm these holding calls at the end of superbowls are crazy.
— Dj Reader (@Djread98) February 13, 2023
Hey @NFLOfficiating
CAN’T HAVE IT
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 13, 2023
Absolutely awful penalty
Horrible call
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) February 13, 2023
Are you kidding me? Another SUPER suspect holding call deciding the end of the SuperBowl 🧐🤔
— CJ Uzomah (@cj_uzomah) February 13, 2023
Been letting them boys play all day and now y’all wanna do that bs… smdh
— Jermaine Johnson II (@ii_jermaine) February 13, 2023
A reminder: three days ago we were told the NFL officiating has never been better.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 13, 2023
Usually don’t get involved in ripping referees but HATE that defensive holding call on Bradberry. 35-35 late on a 3rd down incompletion on what was a marginal foul???
Let em play man!!
Bad call-hate that is what many will take away from this game.— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) February 13, 2023
Just like last year, my issue is this: There were ZERO calls for defensive holding before Bradberry was flagged. Zero. All game. Players play to the game that's being called.
The infraction, such as it was, was far from egregious. Just can't call it. Cannot.
Frustrating.
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) February 13, 2023
Refs win the bowl again
— Eli Apple (@EliApple) February 13, 2023
Should’ve let that go to 4th down and let the best team earn it. Man I feel for them boys. For that whole season to end on a call like that is crazy.
— Jermaine Johnson II (@ii_jermaine) February 13, 2023
🤔
— Logan Wilson (@ljw21) February 13, 2023
#Bengals fans #Eagles fans
🤝
Getting hosed late in the Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/xStPHcDISl— 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 (@BengalsCaptain) February 13, 2023
Bradberry himself admitted that he did pull the jersey of JuJu:
Eagles CB James Bradberry on the holding penalty ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fo6mgi9YrL
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 13, 2023
But Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie came out and gave about as strong of a statement against the call as you’ll hear from a team owner:
In the losing locker room, #Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie told me, “I thought we deserved to have a chance to win the game in the final couple of minutes.” It was an oblique shot at the refs. But in truth, his team was the lesser team in #SuperBowlLVII:https://t.co/08nqCFvUIG
— Mike Sielski (@MikeSielski) February 13, 2023
We won’t even get into the liability Vegas had for an Eagles win and over the point total. It’s unfortunate that even becomes a discussion because of shaky calls like this.
You could say the Philly defense did not play well in the second half and should’ve made a stop earlier. Still, it’s tough for NFL fans to see two consecutive Super Bowls end—though the Bengals did have more of a chance on offense last year than the Eagles—on questionable (at best) holding penalties that came in games where the officials were letting the players play and then suddenly make humungous calls on a final drive for an offense.