Behind the scenes: Titans coach vs ref spat leads to string of petty penalties in loss to Vikings
The Tennessee Titans lost to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, and all anybody could talk about in the wake of the game was officiating. This was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the worst-officiated games in recent NFL history. The Titans were slapped with 13 penalties in total, and 7 were verifiably […]
The Tennessee Titans lost to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, and all anybody could talk about in the wake of the game was officiating.
This was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the worst-officiated games in recent NFL history. The Titans were slapped with 13 penalties in total, and 7 were verifiably bogus calls. So much so, that all day the unbiased broadcast crew was dancing around being too critical of referee Clete Blakeman and his crew.
Three of these penalties extended Vikings drives that would have been over, but instead turned into all three of their touchdowns in the game. One of these calls occurred in the endzone on a critical 4th down, and Blakeman was caught in a lie discussing the play with the pool reporter afterwards. You can read all about that unbelievable nonsense right here.
But the last three egregious calls against the Titans occurred near the end of the game, as they struggled to mount a comeback offensively. Backup RT Isaiah Prince was called three times for illegal formation, and all three of the calls erased important Titans plays.
Head Coach Brian Callahan could be seen absolutely beside himself on the sideline throughout the course of the events. Prince appeared on replay to be aligned the same as he and other tackles had been all day long. Surely he was communicating with the officials in between the penalties, trying to make adjustments to satisfy their requirements. So what in the world was going on here?
Well, former NFL offensive lineman Ramon Foster shared his perspective on the situation on his Monday morning radio show. Listen to what he had to say on 104.5’s “Ramon, Kayla, & Will”:
"Coach Bill Callahan (OL coach) said to one of the side judges on the Titans side 'why you smiling?' it was something similar to that… and after that, there was a play ran on offense… and then the next play, and illegal formation. And I was just like 'that's not ok'. It's just, the way it broke down, I was just like [inquisitive inhalation] that's the one thing he can control, the umpire. That's just saying 'ok, you wanna get smart with me? Well guess what I'll do? The warning I gave you is now initiated. So here we go'. And then there was another which happens after that moment. Which makes me think a little bit that they were in the guy's ear and rightfully so, like that was right after coach Brian Callahan went off after the hit in the endzone."
This story checks out. Not only is it completely believable based on how the game was called, it also seems to fall directly in line with the natural human emotions a defensive referee would be feeling in that moment. Refs are people too. And in some cases, such as on Sunday, power-tripping hall monitors.
Foster isn't one to spread or lean into spreading conspiracies, either. This was something he openly shared on Titans radio Monday morning. It's not a story he would tell unless he had very good reason to believe the accusation had legs to stand on. He almost certainly has more details that are even further damning of the officials that he felt he wasn't at liberty to share. I myself heard some things along those lines Sunday evening.
Take a look at the plays in question yourself. Here's a cutup of each of them:
And just for good measure, some zoomed-in still images:
The rule for tackles is their helmet must be in line with the center's beltline. Is Prince a hair deep in some of these? Perhaps, hard to tell without a direct angle. But is he dramatically behind his counterpart on the left side, JC Latham? Absolutely not. And most importantly, as somebody who watched the full game tape, I can tell you his alignment on these three snaps was no different from his alignment all game long. In fact it was no different than any of the tackles, on either team, all game long. Absolutely nothing changed.
So do I believe these were the calls of a petty, spiteful referee? A man trusted with significant power who chose to abuse it to send a message to coaches who were hurting his feelings? You bet I do. Without question. And that's an absurd thing to have happening in the National Football League.
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