It has become a weekly custom for the NFL’s officiating crew to have made at least one questionable call or overlook a crucial call in a game. The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys faced one another in a divisional rivalry game and while the former humiliated the latter 41-7 with Kenny Pickett at quarterback, at one point, the team risked losing wideout Devonta Smith.
With under 5 minutes to go in the first quarter of the game, Devonta Smith was running a route and looking back toward Kenny Pickett to throw the ball. He had his back turned toward linebacker Marist Liufau who went on to push him out of bounds by shoving him on the back.
The linebacker’s push was rough and Devonta Smith did not see it coming. He ended up landing on his left palm and the impact resulted in him sustaining an injury on his wrist. It was a block in the back but the referees did not throw a flag on the play.
Cowboys injure Devonta Smith and the refs don’t give them a penalty for this block in the back. pic.twitter.com/jqAzFL7QPi
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) December 29, 2024
Devonta Smith was briefly taken out of the game after the hit
The wideout took some time to get up. He remained seated on the field and it was clear that he felt discomfort in his left wrist. He was evaluated for the injury but fortunately, it was not severe. This is not the first time that Smith has been injured this season. Although he had sustained a concussion in the game against the New Orleans Saints.
The lack of a call by the officials on this play did not sit well with fans. After all, it was a clear block in the back on the part of the linebacker. Here’s how they reacted to it via X:
Refs have been a disgrace this year.
— Gretz (@gretz4thewin) December 29, 2024
Better Vision. Better Calls.
— LASIK.com (@LASIKdotcom) December 29, 2024
what’s new?
— Barkley Super Bowl LIX MVP (@BarkleysBurner_) December 29, 2024
The refs have been awful all year long.
— Bears Insights (@BearsInsights) December 29, 2024
This isn’t new, every week with this shit
— AllthingsBIRDS🦅 (@BirdsnmoreBirds) December 29, 2024
A block in a back rarely causes that kind of injury
— Richard “Dick” Whitman (🌎/21M) (@GhostofWhitman) December 29, 2024
To hear yall tell it the Chiefs only get away with stuff like this 🤔
— King James (@jroc3218) December 29, 2024
The league has had a refereeing problem for a while. This season the mistakes have gone to another level. In Week 5, they missed a pass interference call in the Chiefs-Bills matchup which impacted the outcome of the game.
In Week 8, a questionable roughing the passer penalty was called against the Cowboys in their matchup against the Eagles, and in week 10 a missed holding call in the Packers-49ers game cost Green Bay an opportunity to orchestrate a comeback.
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