Patriots Are In No Position To Have Discourse About Officiating

The Patriots suffered a tough loss Sunday, and fans had their focus on a key decision in overtime.

No, it wasn’t Jerod Mayo opting to punt instead of going for it on fourth-and-1. Though, that was a sticking point for some fans. It was pass interference that went against New England cornerback Jonathan Jones, who was in coverage on Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett.

The play happened on first-and-10 from Seattle’s own 31, and the penalty moved the Seahawks to New England’s 49. Geno Smith continued to drive his team down the field to set up Jason Myers for the game-winning 31-yard field goal.

Fans and Patriots beat reporters were livid that the penalty was called at that moment since defenders generally were playing tight without a flag being thrown. It was made worse when Jones revealed Lockett admitted to him that it wasn’t actually a penalty. It’s possible that Lockett was talking trash, but he generally leaves that to his teammate DK Metcalf.

There was another defensive pass interference in the game in the second quarter that also was a sticking point for fans. Marco Wilson was called for interference on Lockett on a third-and-5 in the green zone that pushed the ball to the one-yard line. Zach Charbonnet rushed the ball in for an easy score to put Seattle up, 14-10. It’s unknown if Lockett said anything to Wilson, but it really shouldn’t matter.

Did those penalties cost the Patriots? Maybe, but you also could point to so many other things that prevented New England from going 2-0. Jerod Mayo and Jacoby Brissett’s game management was questionable. The team’s offensive approach was bipolar and lacked explosion that was feared in the preseason. And on that point, Seattle showed just how talented it was. Smith was dialed in on the Seahawks’ final two drives, unlike Brissett, who struggled to make up for the mistakes of the offensive line.

Referee discourse is just loser talk that oversimplifies a team’s true deficiencies. Also, the Patriots no longer are in a position to be part of that discussion. New England was projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL, thus do not merit national attention. For two decades, the Patriots were hated because of the belief that the referees favored Tom Brady and gave him and the offense “all the calls.” You see the same discourse with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, especially their “controversial call” at the end of their Week 2 matchup that everyone actually will be talking about.

There is so much variance when it comes to referee calls. The Seahawks were called for more accepted penalty calls (6-to-3) and more yards (50-to-42) than the Patriots. It’s human error that we accept, yet people will still waste air space — or text space — complaining about something that happens every week in almost every sport.

New England is a rebuilding team that doesn’t need to rely on excuses to get better. Mayo and his players understood that postgame and the fans should follow suit.