Refs miss blatant flag on New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson
New York Jets rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson had a big day in Buffalo this past Sunday. Wilson caught six of his seven targets for 78 yards and broke Keyshawn Johnson’s franchise record for receiving yards by a rookie.
Wilson fought through some egregiously unnecessary contact to break the record.
After grabbing a 12-yard catch from Mike White on an out route, Wilson absorbed a blatantly late hit from Bills safety Jordan Poyer. Wilson’s entire body was out of bounds when Poyer made contact. An official was standing right there but no flag was thrown.
Wilson took to Twitter to voice his frustration.
“I ain’t got a call all season… one ref told me ‘this ain’t O State no more.’ Crazy”, Wilson wrote in a tweet responding to a video of the play.
I ain’t got a call all season… one ref told me “this ain’t O State no more.” Crazy 🤦♂️ https://t.co/KquD2oslfU
— Garrett Wilson (@GarrettWilson_V) December 12, 2022
The questionable officiating and the Jets’ disappointing result (20-12 loss) should not distract from the stellar accomplishments of Wilson. New York’s 10th overall pick has now amassed 63 receptions for 868 yards and 4 touchdowns through his first 13 NFL games.
Wilson is building a rapport with new quarterback Mike White. Over three games since White took over, Wilson has caught 19 of 30 targets for 335 yards and 2 touchdowns. That’s 6.3 receptions for 111.7 yards per game.
Wilson and White will look to continue building their chemistry next Sunday when the Jets host the red-hot Detroit Lions in what feels like a must-win game for all intents and purposes. Detroit has won five of its past six games, but the Lions’ defense remains the NFL’s second-worst in terms of points allowed (26.7 per game), so Wilson and the Jets’ offense have a chance to heat up and turn their season back on the right track.
The ref who missed the call on the late hit to Wilson should be fined and not back on the field for the rest of the season. I have long said if the refs had to earn their “spot” like players do they would not be blowing calls that should be easy to make. The NFL needs to hire full time refs, with a minimal base salary and most if it coming by incentive. It’s a joke a multi billion dollar industry has part time employees in such important positions.
They need about 15-20 crews of refs, and each week they get evaluated on their performance to see if the get assigned the next week. Also, if players and coaches can be fined for speaking out against blatant calls then refs should be fined for missing easy calls.
I agree, it really doesn’t seem like there is proper performance evaluation going on for officials. Feels like a clique of guys who will never lose their job or face any repercussions for how well they perform. When their actions have a drastic effect on the outcome of games AND the safety of players. Lots of work to do for the NFL regarding officiating.
I’ve always heard that one of the qualifying factors for being a NFL official is a huge net worth. The logic being that they could not be tempted to take money to throw games etc. Not sure if it’s true?
A full-time permanent staff of referees would seemingly leave the door open to bribes etc.
I’ve always thought the net worth idea was specious. A permanent full-time staff under strong supervision and constant scrutiny/evaluation make malfeasance unlikely.
I can’t imagine the two shots on Mike White not being flagged if they on Tom Brady.
From the eye test it does seem like the refs call less personal foul penalties against the Jets. Another issue that I have as well is the seeming inequity with their scheduling in relation to other teams…especially intra-division. An example is playing both the Bills and the Pats when both were coming off a mini-bye. The Jets never seem to get that luxury. Statistically it should be easy to calculate the cumulative amount of off-days before the teams in the division play each other.
You are 100% correct. Zach gets hit in the head in NE…no call, Mac gets brushed up and falls in NY and it’s 15 yards and take a TD off the board. Garrett, several yards out of bounds and it’s football.
The problem lies in the fact these refs are human and they spend the entire week watching ESPNquirer just like everybody, and hear all of the ass kissing they do for certain teams and players, compared to taking shots at every turn on a team like the Jets. Then refs get in games with these “close” calls and they have been mentally programmed…”Oh it’s NE, they are geniuses, they are well coached, they never do x,y,z”…so they get the benefit of the doubt. Or it’s the “Jets, who have always been a circus, they never figure it out” so they must be doing something wrong.
There were Jets’ DL’s being tackled in the middle of that Bills OL yesterday no call, but as soon as there’s a positive Jets’ run outside, it must be a hold. Personally, I’m so sick and tired of the double standard, and it’s going to take Saleh or Woody to just make a predetermined decision to come out after a game and just let loose. Take the fine, and change the narrative. I’m not a fan of him, but Phil Jackson used to do that on purpose.
That’s a good point, there’s no way that there isn’t some bias in these guys’ heads based on the reputation of the franchises and players they are officiating. It’s just natural. They have to make split-second decisions and it seems pretty likely that their decision-making process in that split-second involves something like “OK this is the Patriots… they’re disciplined so this must be OK, I’m gonna hold this flag” or “This is the Jets, those dirty and undisciplined losers. I’m throwing this.” Would love to see Saleh send a message. Garrett going public helps a little, though.