Mike Vrabel says NFL officiating can be "comical" at times
The New England Patriots escaped New Orleans with a 25-19 win over the Saints on Sunday, which is allowing Mike Vrabel to laugh off some of the questionable officiating his team had to battle throughout the win.
The Patriots were burned by a pair of iffy offensive pass interference calls on Stefon Diggs in Sunday's win, the first of which took a 61-yard touchdown pass by Drake Maye off the scoreboard. The Patriots scored a touchdown shortly after the first OPI call, and then the New England defense came up with a big fumble recovery a few plays after the second call on Diggs.
But getting that fumble required Vrabel to challenge the initial call on the field, which ruled New Orleans tight end Juwan Johnson was down before he fumbled. A quick review showed otherwise, but the Patriots only got the ball back after Vrabel threw the red flag.
Vrabel also had to challenge a call late in the game, when Kayshon Boutte was initially ruled to go out of bounds after his 21-yard reception ahead of the two-minute warning. Vrabel challenged that Boutte got his knee down before he was out-of-bounds, and a replay review once again proved the Patriots head coach correct. The overturn kept the clock ticking and allowed the Patriots to take three kneel-downs after the two-minute warning to preserve the win.
There were other questionable flags and a few blatant missed calls throughout the game Sunday. Had the Patriots lost in New Orleans, Vrabel likely would have been a little more peeved at the officiating after the game.
"Those don't drive me crazy," Vrabel said Monday of the two OPI calls. "We just have to be able to deal with whatever situation is presented to us, whether we agree with it or disagree with it. I've learned it's not going to change.
"I'm frustrated for the players who had some really explosive gains taken away by judgement – probably poor judgement – but it's all part of it," added Vrabel.
Mike Vrabel says NFL officiating can be "comical"
Earlier Monday, Vrabel was asked during his morning interview on WEEI if there's anything that can be done with officiating in the NFL.
"I got a tough enough job to coach this football team," Vrabel said with a laugh. "There's not much."
Vrabel said the league does a good job informing teams each week what officials will be looking for the following weekend. The NFL gives teams videos that highlight certain calls, but Vrabel questions if the officials themselves even watch those videos.
"It becomes comical at a point, and they send these videos out every week, and they do a great job. [NFL officiating and rules analyst] Walt Anderson does a great job. [NFL head of officiating] Ramon George does a great job. And they send these videos out and, of course, me and Stretch (Patriots vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher), we hang on to every word.
"And then I'll see something in the game and I'm like, 'Did they even watch the video?' Like, me and Stretch are just like, pausing it, rewinding it," relayed Vrabel. "I love these videos, and then I'm like, 'Hey, did you watch the video last week? Like they talked about this exact thing.'"
Vrabel was clearly frustrated with the officiating in Sunday's win, but he didn't want to say anything that would get himself a hefty fine from the league. But Monday's comments are a nice way to tell the NFL refs to get their act together.