30 Of The Absolute Worst Officiating Calls From The 2025 NFL Season

With the 2025 NFL regular season behind us, it’s time to do one of our favorite annual exercises: A rundown of the worst officiating calls that further emphasize the league’s need to fix its officiating and replay systems.

So without further ado, let’s dive into 30 of the worst officiating calls of the 2025 NFL season.

Which calls in this 2025 NFL season were the worst?

Giving The Steelers “Leverage”

The AFC North division crown came down to the Week 18 regular season finale between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. All Tyler Loop had to do was make a 44-yard field goal, and the division was Baltimore’s.

Loop missed the field goal wide right, securing the Steelers’ first division crown since 2020. But if the refs didn’t miss this obvious “leverage” call against Ben Skowronek of Pittsburgh, it would have been a 15-yard penalty. And Baltimore would have had a do-over. Oh, how different history could have been.

Tarheeb Still’s Phantom “Illegal Contact” Penalty

NFL officiating will never be entirely accurate each season. In a close game, though, all the fans can do is ask the refs not to take over the game with a crappy call.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened at the end of the Chargers-Texans Week 17 game. Trailing 20-16 with less than three minutes remaining, the Bolts seemingly got a third-down stop to force a punt and keep the game going.

Except…Tarheeb Still was called for “illegal contact” despite clearly being pushed over and interfered with first. That garbage penalty allowed the Texans to run out the clock and seal the game. Pathetic.

Phantom “Safety” Call On Marcus Maiota

You know the officials REALLY screwed up when the league has to admit an error on their part. 

NFL officiating rules analyst Walt Coleman admitted to a screwup after the Commanders-Broncos Week 13 game. Marcus Mariota was curiously flagged for an intentional grounding penalty to avoid a sack.

But as Anderson explained, it shouldn’t have been called. He threw it in the direction of Terry McLaurin, so it shouldn’t have been called. Just one of many instances where nothing went right for Washington this year.

False Starts Are Legal On Tush Push Plays

There were numerous instances of the Philadelphia Eagles getting away with blatant false starts on push plays. The refs’ most hilarious miss? Probably this one in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

And you thought KC got all the calls! Their dynasty might be done, after all.

Missed Hold On Jordan Mailata

It’s a good thing the Chargers held on to beat Philadelphia in their Week 14 clash. Because otherwise, the league and its officials wouldn’t have heard the end of it. Somehow, Jordan Mailata got away with a clear-cut holding infraction to help Saquon Barkley’s 52-yard touchdown run.

If you can’t block ‘em, hold ‘em. You just might get away with it, especially this NFL season!

Zay Flowers’ “Blindside Block”

Going back to the Steelers-Ravens Week 18 game…

Derrick Henry busted off a 47-yard run on the first play from scrimmage to quiet down the Pittsburgh crowd. But hold the horses! Baltimore wideout Zay Flowers – No. 4 in white — was called for a blindside block here. Yes, the Zay Flowers who locked his social media accounts this season.

Baltimore scored a TD on that drive, but the point stands. A disgraceful penalty call.

Offside Is Legal?

Does someone mind telling us where in the rulebook it says it’s okay to jump offside before the ball is snapped? Anyone? Hello?

Refs & Eagles Seal The Deal vs. Lions

The Philadelphia Eagles were able to ice their Week 11 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Detroit Lions thanks to an offensive pass interference penalty on AJ Brown that was actually called defensive PI against Rock Ya-Sin.

Yes, this is the penalty they called with under two minutes left to end the game.

This Isn’t A Proper Coin Toss

Everyone knows the basic rules of a coin toss: The winning team can decide if they want to kick or receive. The loser of the coin toss decides which end zone they want to defend.

Yet for some reason, Panthers QB Bryce Young, whose fifth-year option was picked up, was allowed to choose BOTH options in overtime against Atlanta: He picked for Carolina to kick…and the goal he wanted Carolina to defend.

The joke writes itself!

Refs Screw The Ravens

If the previously mentioned mistakes the officials made in the Steelers-Ravens Week 18 game weren’t bad enough? Well, let’s just say that their first meeting in Week 14 was a sign of what was to come this NFL season.

In the 2nd quarter, Travis Jones was called for “unnecessary roughness” after a Steelers field goal attempt. Watch Number 98 here and tell us where the penalty is.

That penalty gave Pittsburgh a fresh set of downs and led to a touchdown. They won by five. Thanks again, refs, for determining the game. And yes, the league admitted that this was a blown call afterward.

False Starts Are Legal On Tush Push Plays: Part II

Just for good measure, here are the Eagles getting away with another blatant false start on the tush push. This instance came in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Totally Forgetting The Rulebook

The Steelers opened the scoring with a touchdown in their Week 13 home game against the Buffalo Bills. DK Metcalf was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty after the score, and it should have been enforced on the ensuing extra point attempt.

But for some reason, the officials allowed Buffalo to enforce the penalty two plays later. That meant better field position for Josh Allen’s squad. As Gene Steratore explained, that shouldn’t have been an option.

Alec Pierce Was Ejected For This

Nothing went right for the Indianapolis Colts in the second half of the NFL season. As fun as his return was, Philip Rivers having to come out of retirement at the age of 44 after a five-year hiatus really summed up the Colts’ desperation.

But to sum up the second half of the Colts’ season? How about star wide receiver Alec Pierce getting ejected in Week 18 against Houston for this horrific crime? Note the sarcasm.

Travis Kelce Avoids Blatant Holding Call

Almost nothing went right for the Kansas City Chiefs this season in the NFL. But this is the Chiefs, so, of course, they had a handful of terrible officiating mistakes go their way.

For instance, how about this atrocious non-call on Travis Kelce in Week 6 against Detroit? He was holding Amik Robertson all day on this Patrick Mahomes completion. It’s like he was asking to be called for holding here.

A Tale Of Two False Starts

Pardon us for including one last Eagles’ uncalled false start. This time, we’re tying it in with a pathetic false start penalty that was called on the Packers in their Week 10 clash with the defending champs.

Wow. Just wow.

Hey Refs! This Ain’t Intentional Grounding

For those who remain convinced that Patrick Mahomes always gets the benefit of the doubt, we say…not 100 percent of the time. No sir.

Mahomes, like every other NFL player, is on the right end and the wrong end of mind-boggling officiating miscues. If you don’t believe us, then please explain why this was an intentional grounding penalty when the ball was tipped.

Gene Steratore questioned why it wasn’t reviewed.

Don’t you get it, Mahomes? How dare you throw a pass that gets tipped? That’s intentional grounding!

How Is This Not A Fumble?

All the complaints and talk about how the Eagles get away with false starts on tush push plays? Well, don’t forget that it’s basically illegal to try and strip the ball from Jalen Hurts, too! Just ask the New York Giants all about it.

In the second quarter of their week 8 meeting this NFL season, Philly lined up to run the tush push on 4th-and-1 in the red zone. The Giants appeared to stop Hurts and strip him for a fumble recovery. But the officials deemed forward progress and blew the whistle. So…no Philly kept the ball and got a TD two plays later.

Make it make sense!

Clean QB Hit = Roughing The Passer

Lions star linebacker Jack Campbell clearly forgot the NFL rules: A clean hit on a quarterback isn’t allowed. It will usually result in a “roughing the passer” penalty.

Hasn’t he played long enough to know the rules?

One Foot In = Touchdown?

The Lions getting screwed over by the refs is nothing new. So maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised about officiating in their Thanksgiving home game against Green Bay.

Somehow, this held up as a touchdown for Dontayvion Wicks after review…even though he clearly had just one foot in.

We feel for ya, Lions fans.

Zack Baun’s Hip Drop Tackle Ends Cam Skattebo’s Season

The NFL implemented a ban on hip-drop tackles before the start of the 2024 season. The officials have actually done a solid job enforcing it, to be fair. But inexplicably, they missed it against Eagles linebacker Zack Baun during a tackle on Giants rookie running back Cam Skattebo.

Skattebo suffered a gruesome season-ending ankle injury on the play. Baun also somehow avoided a fine despite the blatant hip-drop tackle. 

Down To The Wire

The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns 21-17 in their Week 5 game in London. With Carson Wentz going up against Dillon Gabriel in a battle of backup QBs, the game itself was as sloppy and messy as you would expect.

The game also missed a bizarre mistake by the officials that could have completely altered the game’s result. Vikings kicker Will Reichard had a peculiar moment when his field goal attempt struck the wire used for the sky cam. By rule, he should have had a do-over.

But the refs failed to spot the ball-touching-wire moment. Reichard wasn’t granted a do-over. Good thing the Vikings won anyway.

Refs Hunt Down Travis Hunter

Travis Hunter’s second NFL game this season wasn’t as memorable as the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner would have liked. He learned pretty quickly that, well, NFL officiating is hardly fair and consistent.

In Week 2 against the Bengals, the Jacksonville Jaguars were a fourth-down stop away from regaining the ball with a 3-point lead and under two minutes left. Jake Browning’s pass attempt to Andrei Iosivas fell incomplete, but Hunter was somehow flagged for defensive PI.

The Bengals went down the field to score the game-winning touchdown. Hunter and the Jags were robbed.

Phantom Hold Costs The Bears

In Ben Johnson’s coaching debut, Chicago was on the verge of taking down the NFC North rival Vikings. They were clinging to a 17-12 lead in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t get the stop thanks to a garbage call by the officials.

On 3rd-and-1, JJ McCarthy threw an incomplete pass in the direction of Jalen Nailor. Even though Nailor slipped on his own, Tyrique Stevenson was called for defensive PI here.

Minnesota scored the go-ahead touchdown and went on to win 27-24.

Missed Delay Of Game + Wide Receiver Slips = PI?!

The Colts’ Week 13 home loss to the Houston Texans came courtesy of embarrassing officiating that should have led to referee suspensions.

Their crucial AFC South clash was tied 13-13 early in the fourth quarter. Facing a 3rd-and-long situation, CJ Stroud missed Xavier Hutchinson to seemingly bring out the field goal unit. Except, Hutchinson slipping on his own inexplicably drew a defensive PI call on Kenny Moore.

OH, and the Texans got away with a “delay of game” penalty on this very play. That led to the Texans’ game-winning touchdown. Excellent work as always, refs, especially this 2025 NFL season!

Troy Franklin Wasn’t DOWN!

You know that popular “Where’s Waldo?” book series? Let’s play a similar game. We’ll call it, “Where was Troy Franklin Down?”

Spoiler alert: You won’t find it. The refs whistled Troy down early by mistake. Because the whistle was blown, it wasn’t reviewable.

The Panthers-Bucs thing

Carolina was close to losing the NFC South division crown to Tampa Bay on a tiebreaker this NFL season. And it was almost thanks to a blown call in their Week 18 game against those Bucs.

Carolina was in Tampa territory and looking to take the lead in the third quarter. Bryce Young threw a backwards pass to Rico Dowdle. But the officials quickly blew the whistle and ruled that it was a backwards pass that went out of bounds.

First, the ball didn’t go out of bounds. Second, referee Brad Allen later confessed that since it was an erroneous whistle, Carolina should have gotten the option to replay the down. It instead went down for a six-yard loss.

Uncatchable Ball + No Contact = Defensive PI?

To understand just how difficult it is to be a defensive player these days, especially in the 2025 NFL season. Just ask veteran defensive back Jack Jones. He was called for PI against Deebo Samuel despite a) the ball being uncatchable and b) Jones committing ZERO contact!

Tackling Before The Ball Arrives? No Problem!

The resilient New England Patriots made a statement with their Week 16 road win over Baltimore on Sunday Night Football. Making the win even more impressive? They were able to survive this humiliating and atrocious non-call against Marlon Humphrey on Kayshon Boutte.

Disaster In Detroit

In the 2nd quarter of the Packers-Lions aforementioned Thanksgiving game in the 2025 NFL season, Green Bay had a 4th-and-1 situation inside the five. For starters, the officials missed an obvious false start penalty that should have made it 4th-and-6. Secondly, they wrongfully granted Matt LaFleur a timeout, believing he signaled it before the false start.

The Pack would go on to score a TD, but no big deal. Just a four-point swing in a game with major playoff implications.

Defensive PI Is Called Against…The Offense?!

We have seen numerous questionable defensive pass interference calls over the years. But we can’t say we ever saw an offensive PI call when a defensive player committed blatant  pass interference.

But there’s a first for everything, right?

Well, we suppose the Lions have to get SOME of the calls…