Questionable NFL officiating again takes the spotlight in Week 8

An erroneous whistle took a defensive touchdown away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. An early whistle cost the New York Giants a fumble recovery on a tush push. It was a rough Sunday for NFL officials. Giants coach Brian Daboll was apoplectic after Darius Slayton was penalized for offensive pass interference, negating a 68-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter of a 38-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell held Slayton's jersey and arm on the play but Slayton got flagged in one of the most egregious blown calls of the season. "I'm not going to comment on what I think on officials. They call it and we got to play it," Daboll said, doing his best to avoid a fine. Earlier in the game, Jalen Hurts lost the ball when he stretched his arms after gaining a first down on a tush push on fourth-and-1 inside the red zone. Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball away from Hurts for what should've been a fumble recovery in a game that was tied at 7-7 at the time. A whistle could be heard on replay about the same time or after the ball came out but officials ruled Hurts' forward progress had been stopped. The Eagles kept the ball and finished the drive with a touchdown. "The refs have a hard job because they don't know when to stop it," Thibodeaux said about the tush push. In New Orleans, Tampa Bay's Antoine Winfield Jr. picked up a fumble and returned it 47 yards for a score with the Buccaneers leading 7-0 in the second quarter. But an official blew his whistle after the recovery so the Buccaneers got the ball but lost the points. Neither team stopped playing after the whistle, which came from the other side of the field. "The official thought the runner was down," referee Ron Torbert told a pool reporter. "We were able to award the defense the ball after the fumble but because the whistle had been blown, we could not award the advance afterward." The Buccaneers beat the Saints 23-3 so the mistake didn't impact the outcome but poor officiating is always a concern. "I'm still (ticked) off over some of it," Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. "We've got to do something. We'll discuss that with the league and go from there." Penalties were up 8.6% from last season through Week 7. The increase in flags is mostly attributed to the rise in kickoff returns due to the rule change. With more teams returning more kickoffs, there's more opportunities for penalties. Still, it often seems like there's a flag whenever there's a big play. Teams routinely have to delay their celebration when they score until they know if the penalty is on the offense or defense. Broadcasters have pointed this out during games. It slows down the pace of the game and makes it less entertaining. Mentee beats the mentor Aaron Rodgers looked like a 41-year-old quarterback facing one of the best defensive players in the NFL in Pittsburgh's 35-25 loss to Green Bay. Micah Parsons only had one sack but his presence and pressures forced two other sacks and made Rodgers feel uncomfortable all night. Rodgers never got in a rhythm and the Steelers couldn't sustain many drives or finish other ones, settling for four field goals with one touchdown. Of course, they would've needed vintage Rodgers to beat the Packers because Pittsburgh's defense was awful for the second straight game. After giving up 470 yards and 33 points to Joe Flacco and the Bengals in a loss to Cincinnati 10 days earlier, the Steelers couldn't stop Jordan Love and Green Bay's offense. The Packers had 454 yards. Love, who considers Rodgers a mentor and friend, outplayed the quarterback he watched from the sideline for three years. "It's definitely special, Sunday Night Football, to come out here, we faced a little adversity in the first half, bounced back, we knew it was going to be a hyped-up game all week going against A-Rod so I was just glad we came in here and handled business," Love said. ___ On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl