Soccer... Hockey... Basketball... Baseball... Football... Different games though hockey feels like a more violent version of soccer. All involve officiating. Sure, we understand that the NBA's rules have no bearing on the Philadelphia Eagles there are 'umpires' in baseball, but let's not argue over the small details, okay?
We're going somewhere. We want to discuss the Birds, NFL officiating, and a traumatic occurrence we witnessed two years ago, but we must set our table first and tell a story.
To do so, we must do what we hate, blame the refs. We've often thought that's a bush league way to handle a loss, but the seasons have changed several times. We're no less irritated than we were two calendar years ago.
Yes, we're still ticked off about the James Bradberry holding call and the hand the Eagles were dealt on Super Bowl Sunday.
We've seen another Super Bowl played since the Birds' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and many before Super Bowl LVII. We've seen dynasties and bad hands dealt to teams who lost them, but we've never seen a call as bad as the one we witnessed in the fourth quarter on February 12, 2023.
With 1:54 on the game clock and the Chiefs scrimmaging from just outside the Eagles' 15-yard line. Patrick Mahomes and K.C. faces a third-and-eight scenario. He tossed one toward JuJu Smith-Schuster with James Bradberry in coverage. The ball fell incomplete, but a flag was thrown.
The Chiefs had been bailed out by a defensive holding penalty.
That allowed the Chiefs to drain the clock and eventually kick the go-ahead field goal. Philly wouldn't have enough time to make a comeback attempt.
James Bradberry was quoted postgame stating "I pulled the jersey. They called holding. I was hoping they'd let it ride". Now, why would someone as intelligent as James say he thought the refs might let something illegal ride?
Was it because they had allowed both teams to do so throughout the game before changing their approach later? Buckle up! here's where things get interesting.
The James Bradberry holding call is the worst call ever made on the Super Bowl's stage. That isn't because holding didn't occur. It's the worst call because the refs changed the strike zone in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs on the board.
That's where our frustrations are birthed from.
Why is the James Bradberry holding call the worst we have seen? The answer is very easy to express.
Sure. Eagles fans will state the field was too slippery to play on. Howie Roseman and the Eagles (and Kansas City's fans) will argue both teams played on the same field.
That's true, but that's an oversimplification. It also leaves too many important key points out of the discussion. A Chiefs guy was in charge of the playing surface, and only one team had difficulty adjusting. Guess which team that was.
We could dedicate another 700 words or so to that, but we won't. We'll instead focus on the referees. That brings us back to the point we opened with.
We mentioned the existence of officials in other sports earlier. We mentioned the rules are different in each game, but refs in all sports share common theories. It's never a good idea to be the guys who decide wins and losses, especially when you've let the players determine the game's tone for most of the contest.
For three full quarters and just over 13 minutes of a fourth, holding was allowed by both participating teams. Philly grabbed the Chiefs. K.C.'s O-linemen laid on top of Eagles defenders who had slipped on a bad playing surface. The latter scenario is also illegal.
But, here's where our frustrations meet James Bradberry's strange takeaway. No one would believe an official would allow holding to occur. That is unless that same officiating crew had done so through the entire game before deciding they wanted to change how they called things.
James Bradberry held JuJu Smith-Schuster. We all know that. James admitted to doing so, but as we stated earlier, the refs changed the strike zone with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and called 'strike three'. They called traveling in the final minute of game seven in the NBA Finals after allowing guys that extra step in the lane.
That's why the James Bradberry holding call ranks as the worst ever. It's more about 'when it was called' than whether or not we dispute what we're seeing.
James Bradberry hasn't been the same level of player since that evening. The Chiefs have enjoyed favoritism ever since (though the refs will deny that). Maybe this is the game where that all started.
That's okay. Philly has a chance to finish the story on February 9. Let's just hope they don't leave this one in the referees' hands.