USAT: Saints Wire audio clip

USAT: Saints Wire

Jan 16, 2022

- The NFL acted quickly to discipline referee Jerome Boger and his crew for their sloppy work in Saturday’s wild-card round playoff game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that the league pulled them from consideration in working any more postseason games this year. Boger’s crew threw a combined 14 flags for 102 penalty yards between the two teams, and erroneously blew a quick whistle on an early Joe Burrow touchdown pass that gave Cincinnati a 20-13 halftime lead. They held on to win 26-19. It’s bizarre to see the NFL step in like this after their inaction towards referee Bill Vinovich and the crew that worked the 2018 NFC championship game, in which an uncalled pass interference foul against the Los Angeles Rams helped cost the New Orleans Saints a Super Bowl berth. One of the four officials involved with that fiasco, down judge Patrick Turner, is set to work Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Vinovich went on to work the 2019 Super Bowl and 2020 AFC championship game, as well as a 2019 divisional round matchup. Turner, Vinovich, side judge Gary Cavaletto, and back judge Todd Prukop have each been listed as alternates for various playoff games since the incident. But none of them have faced so much as a slap on the wrist after choosing to not foul Rams corner Nickell Robey-Coleman; if anything, Vinovich has been thrown a bone by not being assigned any games in New Orleans (something for which is family is grateful). So what gives? Is the league office in New York just making an example out of Boger and his crew? Schefter’s report adds that the NFL is considering whether to reevaluate their “all-star” crews for the postseason, which is something Saints coach Sean Payton has been advocating for years. Maybe wiping Burrow’s touchdown pass off the board would have given them a slimmer margin of victory over the Raiders than they enjoyed anyway, but it’s not like this was a high-stakes situation two minutes away from a Super Bowl. Maybe it’s part of a larger pattern of problems from Boger, who brought his own problems to New Orleans earlier this season. Or it could be as simple as any other double standard you’ll find around the NFL. That’s become unfortunately commonplace in a billion-dollar organization managed like a neighborhood lemonade stand. Follow the Saints Wire Podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Email Sign up Like this article? Sign up for the Saints Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning An error has occured Please re-enter your email address. Thanks for signing up! You'll now receive the top Saints Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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