By popular demand, we’re again going to have a post after each game that breaks down some of the controversial decisions from the officiating crew in the game.
Penalty Count
Falcons 6-55 (leading to two Jets first downs)
Jets 11-71 (leading to three Falcons first downs)
Note: This does not include penalties that are declined or off-set.
Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage
Jets Penalties
- Quincy Williams pass interference. Slightly early contact on pass over the middle.
- DJ Reed illegal hit on a defenseless receiver. Reed was turned away from the receiver in the end zone as he hit him, but their helmets collided which is always going to draw a flag in that situation. More reckless than deliberate on Reed’s part.
- Mekhi Becton false start. Flinched early. If he held his water, the edge might have been offside, unless he was reacting to Becton.
- Jeremy Ruckert false start. Moved early.
- Joe Tippmann holding on the last play of the game, which was an incomplete fourth down anyway. Calais Campbell shot a gap and Tippmann basically had no choice but to tackle him to the ground.
Falcons Penalties
- Tre Flowers holding on a punt return. Clear grab on Justin Hardee, who still made the tackle anyway.
- Intentional grounding on Desmond Ridder. Jermaine Johnson pressured Ridder who threw a deep out when the only receiver remotely in that kind of direction went over the middle.
- Kyle Pitts offensive pass interference. Ran into and pushed off on Deuce Carter to get open over the middle. Obvious call.
- Pitts holding on Jamien Sherwood. Kept hold of Sherwood to prevent him from closing on the ball carrier.
- False start on center Drew Dalman. Must have been some kind of snap infraction but happened off screen.
Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation
Jets Penalties
- Carter Warren false start. This was the only penalty on the Jets in the first 26 minutes but they then got flagged seven times in the next four minutes. Warren was out of his stance a split second early on a running play but it was close enough that he might have got away with it if he was wearing a different uniform. The right call, though.
- Offside on Solomon Thomas. While nobody was offside, this was obviously a neutral zone infraction but Thomas was not in the neutral zone. Perrion Winfrey was, so the penalty was correct, but it sums up how inept this crew was that they got the player wrong here.
- Reed illegal contact to negate an interception. This was a bad call because Pitts initiated the contact and Reed simply absorbed it and didn’t slow the receiver down. This was a little similar to the Sauce Gardner penalty that cost the Jets the Chiefs game. Also, Reed and Pitts had an identical play earlier on an incompletion and there was no call on that one.
- Justin Hardee holding on a punt return. Another bad call. Initially it looked like it might be an illegal block in the back but he shoved his man in the side. What he never did was grab on or otherwise impede.
- Garrett Wilson holding to negate a Breece Hall first down run. Reached his arm across a defender like he was about to hold him and then pulled it away before he was impeded at all. This should have been picked up.
- Chazz Surratt personal foul for “lowering the head to make forcible contact”. Another awful call. Surratt actively avoided making contact with his head by leaning away from the ball carrier and the hit was 100 percent clean. If you’re keeping count that’s five penalties on the Jets in under two and a half minutes, four of which were completely wrong with the fifth being mis-announced and called on the wrong guy. Pathetic – and frankly suspicious – officiating.
- Tippmann false start. Looked like a double-clutch on the snap. The officials couldn’t even get this call right as they pinned it on number 65 which the Jets don’t have.
Falcons Penalties
- Kaden Elliss late hit on Breece Hall. Clearly hit him when he was out of bounds so the call was right. However, Hall did brace for contact which raises the interesting question that if a ball carrier trucked a defensive player at the end of a run when both were out of bounds, could they feasibly be flagged for the late hit themselves? Presumably yes.
- Clark Phillips defensive holding on Garrett Wilson. Definitely grabbed him and slowed him down as he broke to the outside. This was close because it would have been pass interference if he was holding him as the pass was released but he let go right before.
Notable no-calls etc
Here were some of the other notable missed calls, replay situations and controversial moments:
- Hall got away with lowering his head on one run, which they never call. He might get a fine for that.
- Quinnen Williams could have been called for a low hit on the quarterback but he was tripped. Still, he could have avoiding wrapping up around the ankles.
- An illegal man downfield flag on the Jets was correctly waved off because the only players to leak past the line of scrimmage were tight ends.
- The Jets wanted a late hit on Lorenzo Carter who had a two hand shove after the whistle. It was soft but we’ve seen these called against the Jets.
- On MyCole Pruitt’s touchdown he was still juggling the ball after his first foot touched inbounds but the catch was still good because his elbow was down inbounds after he secured it.
- Tyler Conklin was marked short on a third down catch, leading to the Jets going for it and converting on fourth down. Replays showed he reached the first down marker before he was down.
- Dalvin Cook was shoved down well after the play by Kentavius Street. Again this is the kind of thing that the Jets have seen called on them this year.
- The Falcons wanted a defensive pass interference call on Reed, who arguably made early contact in the end zone.
- Richie Grant hit Conklin helmet-to-helmet on a 3rd down incompletion. A glancing blow, but these are usually automatic flags.
- Wilson had two sideline catches, the first of which was correctly ruled a catch and the second of which was initially ruled a catch but then overturned by the replay booth. But the second one should have been flagged for a blatant hit on a defenseless receiver. Grant made forcible contact to the chin strap (head/neck) area, leading with his forearm.
- Quinnen Williams got away with one when the Falcons were looking to throw a screen to Bijan Robinson and he grabbed hold of him.
- Jordan Whitehead could be fined again after he broke up a third down pass to Robinson with a hit where he led with his helmet and made contact below the chin strap.
- Pruitt shoved CJ Mosley, who admittedly was trying to instigate by grabbing his arm, with a forearm to the facemask, but this was ignored. Mosley himself was penalized in similar circumstances last week with the difference being that he got a blindside shove in the back and push to the face before reacting.
- Irvin Charles got away with an illegal block in the back on one punt return.
- The officials picked up a flag on Carter’s pass interference because they judged that both players had a hold of each other. This looked generous to Carter.
- Trevor Siemian’s fumble was initially ruled as incomplete and even though the replay booth fixed this, the on-field crew blew the play dead when it could have been returned, possibly even for a touchdown.
Let us know what we missed – or misinterpreted – in the comments…