Colts fans are up in arms after a pair of crucial late-game calls against Indianapolis cost the team a win on Sunday in a 39-38 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
The controversial calls came on the game’s final drive, with the Colts clinging to a five-point lead.
It looked as though the Colts had wrapped up a win after linebacker E.J. Speed forced a fumble on third down in the red zone and Indy came up with the ball.
However, the excitement was replaced by anger when the Bronws – down 38-33 with 38 seconds left in the game – appeared to be bailed out by the refs when they called the Colts for illegal contact in the secondary.
The call gave the Browns new life as Colts head coach Shane Steichen became infuriated with the officials over the penalty.
On the very next play, the refs found themselves in the spotlight once again when a controversial pass interference call in the end zone set up the Browns on the 1-yard line.
The Colts believed the throw was uncatchable and tried to argue as such to no avail with the officials.
Instead, the Browns received another fresh set of downs and they capitalized with Kareem Hunt running the ball into the end zone on fourth down to put Cleveland ahead by one.
The questionable calls drew immediate ire from football fans on social media, including ESPN personality Pat McAfee.
“Colts got screwed. Thanks @NFLOfficiating,” McAfee, a former Colts punter, wrote on X after seeing the plays.
“Wow!!! If I’m a Colts player I would be spittin FIRE from these damn refs!” former Jets guard Damien Woody wrote.
NFL officials are no strangers to taking heat for controversial late-game penalties that do and do not get called.
The Giants seemed to have been victimized by the latter in their Week 6 loss to the Bills when no flag was thrown on the final play of the game when it looked like Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson could have been called for pass interference on the play with New York tight end Darren Waller going for the game-winning catch.
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