One of the better Super Bowls in recent memory saw the Kansas City Chiefs capture their third Lombardi Trophy (their 2nd in four years) with a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the game’s final seconds. I have been writing about the Super Bowl for the last five or six years now, and this is the second time that the league’s strange rules enforcement has cast a shadow over a good game.
I had no money riding on this game. I had no substantial rooting interest. I just wanted to see a good contest between two good teams. I got that. Unfortunately, the ending was a foregone conclusion after the Eagles’ James Bradberry was called for a defensive hold on a 3rd & 8 for the Chiefs that gifted them an automatic first down and essentially carried KC to the final seconds of the game.
Bradberry admitted to tugging on the jersey, but it’s not like he had to admit it. There’s a lot of video evidence to show it. To me, that’s more so an instance of Bradberry owning his mistake and not letting that be an excuse for the outcome of the game. That is true. The penalty was not the reason why the Chiefs won or the Eagles lost but it still left a black eye on the game.
Before I continue, I don’t want to diminish what Kansas City did. They made a lot of smart adjustments when they were down by 10 at the half. They kept Philly confused on both sides of the ball in the second half and ultimately exposed their inexperience. When you look at how KC was scoring down the stretch, they were getting wide-open looks against a defense that had held them in check through the first half, and that shows the fantastic coaching adjustments on the part of Andy Reid and his staff. It was also a gutsy performance on the part of Patrick Mahomes who was still clearly dealing with his ankle injury.
It is not easy to stay at the top of the food chain for as many consecutive years as KC has. This season marked their 5th-straight AFC Championship appearance and maintaining that level of continued success year in and year out isn’t to be taken for granted. They deserve credit for all of that, but none of that changes the fact that I didn’t like how the game ended and I know I am not alone in that.
In the immediate aftermath, I said on social media that the ending was “dogshit” and that it undermined the integrity of the product, bringing into question the competition committee and the nature of defensive holding penalties (there’s a great opinion piece by Drew Magary on Defector that really sums up what a lot of folks are feeling after that game). Of course, I took some heat but that’s okay. The problem was that the heat was aimed incorrectly. I never said it was a bad/incorrect call, and most of the people who actually responded to me either did so with immaturity or just missed the actual point…but hey, it’s social media.
For some context, go back to the end of the AFC Championship game. The Chiefs got into game-winning field goal range on a late hit on Mahomes, out of bounds, where he sorta flopped. By the letter of the law, it was a foul and was the right call. The problem for me was that there was a far more egregious late hit out of bounds by the Chiefs on a Bengals player that wasn’t called earlier in the game. So, the officials had set the precedent that that foul wouldn’t be enforced but when the game was on the line at the end, when the guy that’s being propped up by the league and the media as the new “goat” gets touched, and the outcome of the game is hanging in the balance, they decided to enforce it. That’s super shady.
Again, that isn’t why the Bengals lost that game but it was unequal enforcement of the rules, conveniently for the Chiefs, at the most pivotal moment in the game that is questionable. Whether or not it was actually the case, it sure looked like preferential treatment for Mahomes and the Chiefs. At the end of the day, it’s about consistency.
Now, back to SBLVII. I can remember one play for certain where Juju Smith-Schuster got up complaining to the referee about what was presumably a hold or interference on a route over the middle resulting in an incomplete pass. I believe that play came before the Chiefs’ L’Jarius Sneed got away with a pass interference on a deep ball to Devonta Smith that was ultimately ruled no catch. So, through the first half, neither secondary had been penalized for contact fouls and the Eagles’ only defensive penalty was a pretty obvious hands-to-the-face. All of the other five total penalties in the first half were on the respective offenses, and most of them were procedural. The refs were letting them play.
In a vacuum, I’m in favor of referees learning from their mistakes and improving during the course of a game but that’s not a practical or fair way to officiate. However, by swallowing the whistle on calls in the secondary during the first half, you’ve tacitly told the players what they can get away with. So, it’s really no surprise that Bradberry said, “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.” Of course! Because they had let it slide to that point.
In fact, I just went back through the whole game’s play-by-play and that crucial penalty on Bradberry was the only penalty called on either secondary throughout the entire game. The only one on either side and it just happened to come on the biggest play, of the biggest game of the season, and ice the game. Yeah…that’s not suspicious in the slightest.
Furthermore, after watching the replay many more times today I noticed that neither the backfield judge, who had the best angle to view it, nor the line judge, who was lined up on the line of scrimmage where that jersey tug took place, threw that flag. It was the pylon official at the endzone who threw the flag, and he didn’t throw it until after the landed incomplete, well over Smith-Schuster’s head. That’s a weird time to throw that flag.
Head Referee Carl Cheffers’ explained in a post-game interview with PFWA reporter Lindsay Jones, “The receiver went to the inside and he was attempting to release to the outside. The defender grabbed the jersey with his right hand and restricted him from releasing to the outside. So, therefore, we called defensive holding.” That’s the reason for the flag officially. Cheffers went on to clarify that it restricted the receiver’s “free release” on the out-breaking route. If the jersey pull caused the penalty, why did the two closest officials to the play not make that call? They may have had their vantage point restricted. That’s fair. But why does the flag not come out until after the ball is overthrown?
I have been watching the replay again and again while writing this and the jersey grab does happen. I was never in denial about that. It does turn Juju’s hips slightly, but it doesn’t stop him from releasing. Juju actually still wins outside leverage on the route and beats Bradberry to the pylon. Mahomes was under pressure, after a fumbled snap, and saw that route open up. That’s why he threw the ball away there. There was another little waste grab by Bradberry after he had initially gotten beat, where he’s looking in the backfield (which people have said was the second hold), and that may have actually had the impact of restricting the route but the officiating crew, apparently, would have let that slide.
Cheffers’ use of the particular language “restriction” and “free release” had to come from somewhere and the call was obviously controversial or he wouldn’t be answering questions about it after the game. So, it got me reading the rules because that’s the kind of weirdo I am.
The jersey grab, which was cited as the official reason for the cause of the flag, happened at-or-near the line of scrimmage. I was pretty sure that the defender can, in fact, initiate contact with the WR inside of the 5-yard window. Rule 8 Section 4, “Legal and Illegal Contact With Elligible Receivers”:
Rule 8
ARTICLE 1. LEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS
Within the area five yards beyond the line of scrimmage, a defensive player may chuck an eligible receiver in front of him. The defender is allowed to maintain continuous and unbroken contact within the five-yard zone, so long as the receiver has not moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.
ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS
Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.
Note: If a defender contacts a receiver within the five-yard zone of the line of scrimmage, loses contact, and then contacts him again within the five-yard zone, it is a foul for illegal contact.
Articles 3, 4, and 5 discuss contact outside the 5-yard zone and illegal cut blocks, so they are not applicable to the interpretation of the rules we are looking at here. However, the parameters for defensive holding are outlined in Article 6.
ARTICLE 6. DEFENSIVE HOLDING
It is defensive holding if a player grasps an eligible offensive player (or his jersey) with his hands, or extends an arm or arms to cut off or encircle him. See 12-1-6.
Penalty: For holding by the defense: Loss of five yards and automatic first down.
Note: Any offensive player who pretends to possess the ball, and/or one to whom a teammate pretends to give the ball, may be tackled until he crosses the line of scrimmage between the offensive tackles of a normal tight offensive line.
If you look at the language of Article 6 by itself, it makes sense that the flag in question is pinned specifically on the grasping of the jersey. However, it also seems to be incongruent with Articles 1 & 2 which is why Cheffers’ use of the terms “restriction” and “free release”, which don’t exist anywhere within the language of the rulebook, stood out to me. Rule 12, Articles 5 & 6 outline some other important key factors that I am going to underline below, but they may not be able to supersede Rule 8.
Rule 12
ARTICLE 5. LEGAL USE OF HANDS OR ARMS BY DEFENSE
A defensive player may use his hands, arms, or body to push, pull, or ward off offensive players:
- when he is defending himself against an obstructing opponent while attempting to reach the runner;
- when an opponent is obviously attempting to block him;
- in a personal attempt to reach a loose ball that has touched the ground during a backward pass, fumble, or kick;
- during a forward pass that has crossed the neutral zone and has been touched by any player; and
Exceptions:- An eligible receiver is considered to be an obstructing opponent only to a point five yards beyond the line of scrimmage unless the player who receives the snap demonstrates no further intention to pass the ball. See 8-4-2, 8-4-3, and 8-4-7 for rules applicable to Illegal Contact with an eligible receiver.
- See 8-4-5 for rules applicable for an Illegal Cut Block against an eligible receiver.
- during a kick. See 6-2-1 and 9-1-4 for blocking restrictions during a kick.
ARTICLE 6. DEFENSIVE HOLDING
It is a foul for defensive holding if:
- a defensive player tackles or holds any opponent other than a runner, except as permitted in Article 5.
Note: Any offensive player who pretends to possess the ball, and/or one to whom a teammate pretends to give the ball, may be tackled until he crosses the line of scrimmage between the tackles of a normal tight offensive line. - during a punt, field goal attempt, or Try-kick attempt, B1 grabs and pulls an offensive player out of the way, allowing B2 to shoot the gap (pull-and-shoot) in an attempt to block an apparent kick, except if B1 is advancing toward the kicker.
Penalty: For defensive holding: Loss of five yards and an automatic first down.
As you can see, Rule 12 Article 6 is dependent on Article 5, and they are both dependent on Rule 8. So, first things first. Bradberry was playing man-to-man coverage, solely focused on his guy Smith-Schuster. However, Jerrick McKinnon was also lined up as a running back in the backfield pre-snap. When the snap occurred, the ball hit the ground and Juju runs toward Bradberry, where the initial contact is made. How would any defender reasonably be able to know whether or not that’s a run block? Was Mahomes going to scramble? There’s no way to know in advance so the contact should be okay according to Rule 12 Article 5. Whether or not it’s a run play, Rule 8 says he can make contact with the receiver and that’s why that initial contact is legal. That contact is “continuous and unbroken” through the point of the jersey tug, which is legal according to Rule 8, Article 1 but illegal according to Rule 8, Article 6. What a headache.
Bradberry obviously realized what was happening as Juju broke outside and that’s where his admission of the jersey tug comes into play, but he was playing the defense he’s been allowed to play all game. So, how can the flag come out at that point for the jersey pull? You are telling me that there was not a single infraction of any kind, in either secondary, the whole game, until the most important play of the game? That’s really what we are going with here? Got it.
My problem isn’t so much with the call itself. If you are just going to flag any grab as a hold then it is what it is. But where was that call all game? They had been letting them play all game. So, it is with the timing of the call, the enforcement of the rule itself, and the officials not coming together to have a discussion on whether or not they really want that flag there on a pass that was thrown away by Mahomes anyway as Philly’s Josh Sweat was about to lay him out.
Here’s my primary issue with defensive holding and why I think the competition committee should look at how it’s enforced. The flag came out on a 3rd & 8 play inside the two-minute warning with the Eagles holding one timeout. The foul that they called occurred at the line of scrimmage, on a pass play that isn’t a guaranteed completion anyway. So why does the defensive hold, which is only 5 yards, also come with an automatic 1st down? Offensive holding doesn’t have a loss of down attached so why award one on the defensive infraction? If you don’t want the defense holding in crucial situations and abusing it, why not just make it a 10-yard penalty then to begin with? It’s the incongruent value of the yardage and the automatic first down that manipulates the game.
Had it been a 5-yard penalty and replay of the down, KC would have still had the ball, at the Eagles’ 11-yard line, facing a 3rd & 3 with 1 minute 54 seconds left. They would have likely forced PHI to burn their next timeout with a run play, as they did on the ensuing first down anyway, but they could have also picked up a first down and still likely kicked the go-ahead field goal. The field position was irrelevant, the additional set of downs was the only thing that mattered and it allowed KC to burn the clock down. I guarantee the refs were very much aware of this since they have to keep track of timeouts on both sides and the game clock. How convenient.
I am not saying that this game was rigged, but there was a lot of money to be made by having the underdog Chiefs win. Ensuring that Philadelphia wouldn’t get the ball back with enough time to have a real possession at the end seems fishy. That’s a problem, especially on a stage like Super Bowl where the “NFL is rigged” narrative had already been gaining more steam after the AFCCG. On the one hand, the narrative about Mahomes being the GOAT is flooding the media but, on the other hand, flags come out to secure wins in his two biggest games of the season. That’s not very GOAT-like.
Even though I think there’s a solid case for a defensive hold to be called, at best, the officiating crew’s rationale is inconsistent and they went against their own precedent set earlier in the game. There’s a great opinion piece by Drew Magary on Defector that really sums up what a lot of folks are feeling after that game.
All that aside, we got a great game and some great performances. While the spotlight shines mostly on Mahomes, Kelce, and Reid after their win, Jalen Hurts was the best player on the field. Even with a costly fumble that allowed the Chiefs to tie the game, Hurts still threw for 304 yards and a TD on 27/38 passing to go along with his 3 rushing TDs on the game. He was fantastic on their drive to tie the game and his sheer willpower converted a 2-pt conversion (above).
At the end of the day, it is what it is. The game is over. The Chiefs are the Super Bowl Champions and the Eagles head into the offseason with 30 other teams looking up at the mountaintop. Now I can move on to more important things and take a much-needed break from football.
Thanks for reading! I still believe word of mouth is the best way to help, so if you enjoy what I’m doing, please tell somebody. And if you have a comment, I’d love to hear it! Liking, subscribing, and sharing go a long way too. And, as usual, be well, stay safe, and Go Bills!