It is never a good sign when the referees are a topic of conversation after a game, especially the AFC Championship game. Baltimore Ravens WR Zay Flowers took some shots at the refs on Sunday, January 28, after their 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The rookie receiver was asked about the penalty disparity going in favor of the Chiefs. Flowers responded, “We can’t make the calls for the refs.”
“Those are my brothers, I ain’t except nothing different from em. We all got each other’s backs.”
Zay Flowers received a lot of support from his teammates after a costly fumble at the goal line. He spoke to the media about it after the game. #Ravens #RavensFlock @wjz
The disparity for accepted calls were 8 penalties accepted against the Ravens while only 3 penalties were accepted against the Chiefs. The total penalty yards accepted resulted in 30 penalty yards for the Chiefs and 95 yards for the Ravens.
Flowers himself was called for a key taunting penalty after a 54-yard reception that would have put the Ravens at the 10-yard line.
He started off his answer regarding the penalties saying, “Honestly that is something we anticipated, we said we was going to play through it.”
The Chiefs were also called for key penalties including a holding that wiped away a touchdown on a catch by Rashee Rice.
In that same drive though, the Ravens were called for two penalties, an unnecessary roughness on Kyle Van Noy and a roughing the passer on Travis Jones.
Should this have been called a personal foul penalty against Kyle Van Noy? 🤔
The penalty on Van Noy drew the ire of many as it was in retaliation to Chiefs TE Travis Kelce‘s provocation. No flag was thrown on Kelce and the Chiefs had 1st and 10 at the 27-yard line.
Lack of Calls for the Ravens Was Larger Issue
The calls that went against the Ravens were by the rulebook legitimate calls. However, it is the calls, on offense particularly, that the Ravens did not get which left some scratching their heads.
Specifically, in the fourth quarter there were two critical non-calls while the Ravens were on offense that have led to questioning the referees.
Twice, it appears TE Isaiah Likely should have drawn a penalty that would have saved or extended a critical Ravens’ drive. The first occurred with 6:50 left in the game when QB Lamar Jackson threw an interception.
No pass interference call here on Lamar Jackson’s interception
Likely was streaking up the field, when Jackson made the decision to throw the ball into triple coverage. While the throw was ill-advised, Likely was tackled before the ball even got close to him.
Fox Sports Host Skip Bayless posted, “By the book, that was pass interference on the end zone interception.” The penalty would have wiped out the interception and placed the ball at the 1-yard line with plenty of time to go.
CBS Sports Rules Analyst, and former referee, Gene Steratore during the broadcast said, “In my opinion I think the contact is occurring after the interception is taking place.” However, watching the clip Likely is getting shoved before the ball is close to the defenders’ hands.
What game is @GeneSteratore watching?? Ravens have made some mistakes but these refs are clearly favoring the Chiefs #AFCChampionship #RavensFlock #KCvsBAL #refs #referees
The second occurred with 2:40 remaining in the game where Likely was grabbed and turned around by the defender. While watching the replay, announcer Tony Romo said. “He turns, and boom he grabs him.”
Ravens and Chiefs’ Fans React to Referee’s Calls
Fans on from both teams have been at each other’s throats about the perceived imbalance in calls from the game.
Ravens Nation Live, a popular Ravens fan page, posted a clip of some of the questionable no-calls with the caption, “Did the Chiefs get away with these pass interference penalties?”
Another user wrote over a clip of Likely being pulled down, “HOW NO FLAG ON THIS ONE?”
Chiefs’ fans responded to the comments and clip of Flowers with one user writing, “Penalties going one way more often!? They missed a tripping call in the end zone that would have been a safety for the Chiefs and a lame holding call that brought back a TD by Rice. Get the hell out of here and play better. We should have won by 7-10 more points!”
Another Chiefs’ fan wrote, “Play disciplined clean football and protect the football bro. This isn’t rocket science. You’re responsible for that not the referees.”
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Ravens WR Zay Flowers Throws Shade at Refs After AFC Championship