Patriots Legend Rips Refs For This ‘BS’ Call In Loss To Dolphins

A string of questionable officiating decisions during Sunday’s Patriots-Dolphins game drew harsh criticism on social media.

Among those chiming in: a three-time Super Bowl winner.

Retired Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower voiced his outrage over one particular play in New England’s 31-17 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.

While Miami’s Raheem Mostert was fighting for extra yardage on a fourth-quarter carry, linebacker Jahlani Tavai punched the ball out of the running back’s hands. Officials did not blow their whistles until after the ball was loose, but they ruled that Mostert’s forward progress was stopped, which allowed the Dolphins to keep possession.

One play later, Tua Tagovailoa hit a wide-open Jaylen Waddle for a 31-yard touchdown that iced the game for Miami.

“…come on and explain this bs…” Hightower wrote on the X platform, including a video of the late whistle.

Although the on-field execution was poor, this seemed like a call the refs actually got right. The whistles came in late, but Deatrich Wise clearly had stopped Mostert’s progress before Tavai knocked the ball out.

There were plenty of other borderline or blatantly missed calls for Patriots fans to gripe about, however, including the unpenalized high hit that knocked DeVante Parker out of the game and a ticky-tack pass interference flag on J.C. Jackson that extended the Dolphins’ second touchdown drive.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also pointed to an uncalled trip on running back Ezekiel Elliott, which he called a “dangerous play.”

“I’d like to feel like our players are getting protected like anyone else’s,” Belichick said Monday morning on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”