Chiefs vs Eagles: How the NFL set up Super Bowl LVII to be impacted by penalties
The Philadelphia Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs in large part because of a questionable holding call on Philly defensive back James Bradberry late in the fourth quarter. Bradberry was called for tugging on JuJu Smith-Schuster's jersey on a third down play. If the penalty had not been called, the Chiefs […]
The Philadelphia Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs in large part because of a questionable holding call on Philly defensive back James Bradberry late in the fourth quarter.
Bradberry was called for tugging on JuJu Smith-Schuster's jersey on a third down play. If the penalty had not been called, the Chiefs would've been forced to kick a field goal with nearly two minutes left on the clock (plenty of time for the Eagles to score).
There was definitely a slight tug of Smith-Schuster's jersey (Bradberry admitted as much after the game), but that's still a call that doesn't usually get called in that situation.
The NFL, however, should've expected a call like that to have a major impact late in the game.
That's because the league set the Super Bowl up to be impacted by penalties.
The NFL assigned referee Carl Cheffers and his crew to the game despite the fact that they led the league in penalties this season.
According to longtime NFL sportswriter Rick Gosselin, Cheffers and his crew were the only 200-penalty crew in the league this season. It's the 9th straight season that a Cheffers crew had more than 200 penalties.
The NFL should've known there would be a questionable call at some point in the game. It was inevitable.
Instead of using the Cheffers crew, the NFL should've gone with a crew ranked somewhere in the middle. You want the correct calls made and you don't want egregious penalties missed, but you don't want "ticky-tack" calls to affect the outcome of the game, either.
The NFL has no one to blame but itself. They could've avoided a controversial ending by making an obvious decision and not allowing the Cheffers crew to call Super Bowl LVII.
Featured image via Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
