Detroit Lions wide receiver Anquan Boldin had a tough game in his team’s 26-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. Not only did the veteran receiver catch just two of six targets for 24 yards as his team was once again knocked out of the postseason without a victory, but he picked up two flags for unnecessary roughness.
And as with many Lions fans who were watching the game, he wasn’t very happy with the calls made by the referees.
Anquan Boldin on officiating: "We expected that. There were some calls that left me shaking my head." Said Lions prepared to not get calls.
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 8, 2017
Anquan Boldin said #Lions expected bad calls. "Anytime you come in a place like this, you know you have to play more than just the team."
— Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_) January 8, 2017
The most famous non-call of the night will go down as a facemask by Seahawks receiver Paul Richardson on his phenomenal one-handed, heavily-guarded touchdown catch to give Seattle a 7-0 lead.
catches, all 3 of them. pic.twitter.com/oRdADNQmVa
— Field Gulls (@FieldGulls) January 8, 2017
That being said, the second picture shown above included a facemask on Richardson that ended up not being called that should’ve added 15 yards to the play. Additionally, Seattle thoroughly dominated Detroit in the win -- they won by 20 points, outgained the Lions by 156 yards, and Thomas Rawls ran wild on the NFL’s worst defense by DVOA.
Favoritism by refs towards Seattle seems unlikely (and unprecedented). Missed calls by the officiating crew could at best be attributed to poor training by the league and the fact that we still aren’t getting the best of the best, even in the playoffs.
Sorry, Boldin. This one doesn’t fall on the refs.