The NFL is always watching, and for some officiating crews, that could mean pretty big losses.
A slew of recent gaffes have marred NFL referees’ already tarnished image, and it turns out that the crews involved with two of the most recent transgressions will likely lose playoff assignments — which amounts to a significant financial loss for those parties, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
During the Steelers’ Thanksgiving Day game against the Ravens, officials failed to throw a flag on the sidelines when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stepped into the field of play in front of receiver Jacoby Jones. The incident should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty.
The NFL admitted to the officiating error a few days later.
Then, on Sunday night, Jeff Triplette and his crew bungled a first-down call during the Redskins-Giants game — the NFL admitted fault on that one, too.
In both cases, the NFL deemed the errors egregious enough to downgrade the officiating crews involved. It turns out that the officials are graded on every play, and missing obvious mistakes can result in them missing postseason assignments and bonus money.
