Things are getting increasingly dire for the Los Angeles Rams as the season progresses. A top-heavy roster is already dealing with a ton of injuries. But after starting the season 2-3, they suffered another heartbreaking loss, this time to the lowly Arizona Cardinals.
However, at the end of the game, fans were stunned by an extremely controversial call going against the Rams. It set up the Cardinals for a perfect field goal at the last second to secure the 18-16 win.
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A low-scoring game saw both teams make some critical mistakes and fail to convert on opportunities. That rang especially true for the Rams, who had just nine points with less than a minute remaining in the game.
Scoring a late touchdown, they took a 16-15 lead. But the Cardinals, who ranked 22nd on PFN’s Offense Impact Metric, completed a 21-yard pass to Jalen Brooks. But as Brooks was coming down with the ball, his helmet collided directly with Josh Wallace.
He was called for unnecessary roughness, which added an additional 15 yards for the Cardinals. That put them in ideal territory for the field goal, where they ultimately walked away with the victory.
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“UNREAL PERSONAL FOUL,” Warren Sharp exclaimed, as the cornerback had virtually no space to operate and do anything else. “WHAT DO YOU WANT HIM TO DO???”
A Seattle Seahawks fan, who had to be rooting for a Rams loss in the divisional race, had to admit the unfairness of the call, writing, “Calling a spade a spade. Not a good call.”
One fan claimed, “Just horrible. BOYCOTT NFL…I’m not watching anymore until they fine the refs.”
An account called Bad Sports Refs directly called out NFL officials, as they sarcastically remarked, “Refs stop calling absurdly soft fouls with the game on the line challenge: impossible.”
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Skip Bayless argued, “Rams lose thanks to a bogus 15-yard roughing penalty.”
And with the way the ending of the game shook out, his assertion might have been accurate.
According to the letter of the law, the call was correct, but Mike Sando of The Athletic could understand the frustration with it, given the stakes and how minimal the intensity was on the play.
“What a ridiculous letter of the law call in the #Rams game. Unnecessary roughness for shoulder pad grazing the helmet so slightly, the receiver wasn’t even affected. Is that what we want?”
Charles Robinson, too, had a similar conclusion, writing, “This was a game-deciding personal foul call against the #Rams. This is absolutely bananas. Grazing a defenseless receiver. This is atrocious.”
Given the overturned interception against the Denver Broncos that became a major talking point earlier in the season, one fan suspected that the NFL had an agenda against the Rams.
As a result,he wrote, “NFL officials def hate the Rams. How do you throw a flag for this hit? Sean McVay is going to lose his mind.”
Another fan didn’t mince his words as he claimed, “Beyond pathetic call in the #Rams game. Unwatchable league.”
It remains to be seen if the league admits to its mistake in this instance. In the aforementioned Broncos situation, McVay revealed that the NFL had admitted to a mistake on that call.
But since then, communications have been further tightened. Even as the vast majority of social media disagreed with the call, the Rams now sit at 2-4, and rather than being a viable contender in the NFC, they are struggling to secure a playoff berth as things currently stand.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.