Have You Ever Seen A Ref Chase Down A Player And Goad Them Into A Penalty?
As a qualifier for this blog, the refs are not the reason the Chargers lost this game at all. They were shitty all game to both sides and the Chargers are the ones that fell apart at the seams in the second half. This is just evaluating the bozo behavior of one ref.
After the Chargers blew a historic lead to the Jags, Joey Bosa ate a ton of shit. People were making fun of him, saying he lost the game and a surprising amount of Chargers fans were calling for him to be traded despite being a top-10 edge rusher in the game. But here is the thing, HOW did this unsportsmanlike conduct penalty happen?
To set the scene the refs called Bosa offsides on the Jags first scoring drive, negating a sack that would have made it 4th and long. Was he offsides? You be the judge.
Now fast-forward to the third quarter, 1st and 10 from the LA 39. The Chargers are up 10 and the defense is desperately trying to hold on to a lead. Watch this play.
The Jags RT false starts (no call) and holds Bosa who is directly in Lawrence's face. The Jags score a touchdown on the play. Bosa gets up, is obviously pissed off because he has been shafted not once, but twice. In fact, twice on that single play. Like any football player in that situation, he gets up filled with adrenaline and rage and starts to walk away. He obviously says something to the ref on his way out. Here is where shit gets weird.
If Bosa says something worth a UC call, that call should come right then and there. Instead that ref, Shawn Smith, chased Bosa down as he was trying to walk away. He chased down a player and goaded him into a penalty. In what universe is that appropriate behavior for a ref? Here is some other food for thought.
