For Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers, a crucial Week 18 victory was seemingly snatched away, not by the opposing team, but by two controversial calls from the officiating crew. The decisions put the game in jeopardy, immediately drawing the ire of fans online and in the stadium.

At the 11:45 mark in the third quarter, on the 1st & 10 play at Bucs 34, Young got the snap and threw the ball to the running back Rico Dowdle on his left. But he failed to hold it as the ball dropped in front of him. The referee first whistled the play dead as a forward pass. But referee Brad Allen then made the wrong call. He ruled it a backward pass that went out of bounds for a loss of six yards.

It took the visitors out of the field goal range in a matchup they lost by two points. A frustrated Bryce Young argued the call with officials, but no one could wrap their head around the second decision.

With around five minutes to go in the third quarter, Bryce Young threw the ball to rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan on his left. He was in a direct contest with cornerback Benjamin Morrison and pushed him away while gaining 32 yards before the Bucs’ player grabbed him from behind and stopped his run. The referees called it offensive pass interference with a loss of 10 yards.

It was beyond any logical comprehension, as in the play before this one, linebacker SirVocea Dennis ripped off the helmet from tight end Tommy Tremble’s head, but the referees didn’t call it a penalty.

Former NFL players and fans called the refs out on social media, expressing their anger.

Fans target referees over Week 18 mistakes

One fan accused the referees of betting money on the game and commented, “Refs have $150,000 on this football game.” The controversial calls didn’t just frustrate the Panthers; they sent ripples across the league, with prominent voices like Pat McAfee and Ryan Clark immediately taking to social media to condemn the officiating.

Pat McAfee was not pleased with the mistakes. He is known for his reactions and had a similar outburst on X. The ex-NFLer wrote, “Refs a–… rules analyst.. also a– Not great.” Another player turned analyst joined him.

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Ryan Clark was angry about the OPI call on the rookie receiver. He called out the referees and tweeted, “That’s a bad penalty. Can’t call that. Absolutely unacceptable OPI call on Tet McMillan.” It was such a poor decision that many former players struggled to contain their emotions.

Six-time Pro Bowler Chad Ochocinco Johnson couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw repeated mistakes in officiating. He didn’t call out the referees but had a satirical question for his fans. “Are yall seeing the refs or am i tripping?,” he asked on X, calling out the NFL officials for such poor mistakes

Sports columnist Scott Fowler claimed that the running back could have moved forward with the ball, but the initial forward pass ruling made it a dead ball. He also noted that ESPN’s rules analyst agreed the call on Dowdle’s pass was incorrect. He wrote on X, “ESPN rules analyst points out it was incorrectly ruled.”

As the Panthers lost, many fans claimed that the NFL doesn’t want their team to advance into the playoffs. This has increased tension within the league circles.