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The controversial holding call in the final minutes of Super Bowl LVII continued to be a talking point on Monday. How could the zebras throw the flag on what appeared to be a nit-picky penalty with the game hanging in the balance? The Philadelphia Eagles were robbed.
No disrespect to the Kansas City Chiefs, of course. They took advantage and made big plays in the clutch. However, it was hard not to envision a different outcome after watching the officials refuse to swallow the whistle with 1:54 left in the fourth quarter of a game tied at 35-35.
They flagged James Bradberry for holding and awarded the Chiefs an automatic first down on what looked to be an uncatchable pass lobbed up for JuJu Smith-Schuster. The controversial call allowed Kansas City to drain the clock down to 11 seconds before kicking the game-winning field goal.
Yes, Bradberry did tug on Smith-Schuster’s jersey – he admitted to doing it – but the overwhelming feeling around the league was that the refs should have let it go. The play, in no uncertain terms, decided the final outcome. Here is how referee Carl Cheffers explained the call during a chat with pool 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.”
Okay, but what specifically warranted a flag on the play?
“The grabbing of the jersey that restricted his free release to the outside,” Cheffers said.
Nick Sirianni Not Playing the Blame Game
Head coach Nick Sirianni wasn’t going to blame bad field conditions for Sunday night’s loss, nor was he going to use a questionable holding call as an excuse. The Eagles lost to the better team in Super Bowl LVII. That’s it. Sirianni accepted the call made on the field and lived with the result.
“I’m going to argue with different things of calls here and there, but it’s not my job to make the call,” Sirianni said. “Those guys got to do that in split-second scenarios. That’s what he saw, and he called it. I know it always appears to be that it’s one call that makes that game. That’s not what it is. There are so many plays that contribute to the ending result of the game and today, they were better than we were.”
All-Pro center Jason Kelce shared a similar opinion, refusing to blame the officials or picking out any one single play.
“I’m not going to get into whether they got it right or wrong,” Kelce said. “They called it, and that’s the way this goes. I’ve said this before, I’m never going to be somebody that puts the blame or anything on officials. It’s a hard job. You make a call. It is what it is.”
James Bradberry, JuJu Smith-Schuster Address Penalty
The two main participants on the fateful fourth-quarter play were more than happy to address the penalty in their post-game press conferences. Eagles cornerback James Bradberry fully admitted to grabbing the jersey of Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster with 1:54 showing on the clock. He was hoping it was minor enough to avoid a flag.
“It was a holding,” Bradberry said. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”
Smith-Schuster confirmed that Bradberry held him while crediting the Pro Bowl cornerback at the same time.
“Yes, one hundred percent,” Smith-Schuster said. “My route was to strike in and strike back out, Philadelphia cornerback James Bradberry is a good player but someday the call is going to be called.”
