Any sports fan can tell you that knowing a referee’s name is seldom a good sign.
That’s because referees are never known for the calls they get correct — just the ones they get glaringly wrong.
And when it becomes a habitual pattern, that’s when referees start to be known on a more familiar level.
For NFL referee Brad Allen, who has led referee crews these past two weeks, his name is starting to gain just a tiny bit of notoriety, per ESPN, and that is increasingly putting he and his crew “under scrutiny.”
The most recent missed call from Allen and his crew came last Sunday night, during a tilt between the visiting Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers would win 27-19, but only after a late deep ball from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was not hauled in by receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Many viewers contested that the reason Valdes-Scantling did not catch that ball was because Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine made clear and impacting contact with him while the ball was still in the air — a textbook example of defensive pass interference.
Only Allen and his crew didn’t call it that way.
You can take a look at the egregious missed call for yourself below:
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How was this not called pass interference?? #KCvsGB pic.twitter.com/DtvCyqhkjV
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) December 4, 2023
While a correctly called pass interference call would not have guaranteed the Chiefs the win (they would still need to have scored a touchdown and converted a two-point attempt), it would have set up Taylor Swift’s favorite NFL team within their own 10-yard line, with four attempts at scoring that critical touchdown.
Instead, the Packers were ultimately able to cling onto the lead for the win.
Bad calls, even ones in prime time on Sunday night, happen.
The issue is that an Allen-led crew missed a shockingly similar missed call just a week prior in a Nov. 26 game between the visiting New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.
In that game, there was a crucial first-half play in which Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss appeared to get away with making contact with Saints running back Alvin Kamara without ever turning his head to look for the ball — another hallmark of defensive pass interference.
Much to the likely dismay of Allen and his crew, the past two weeks have put his squad under a microscope for Sunday’s game between the Houston Texans and New York Jets.
Here are some of the missed calls being called out on social media:
WOW: The #NFL refs call this an illegal contact on #Jets CB Sauce Gardner, despite it really being a OFFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE on the #Texans WR
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 10, 2023
Was this a missed pass interference??? #HOUvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/0dSLPwPKAV
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) December 10, 2023
The Jets roared to a 30-6 victory at home.
