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Brad Allen has become one of the most controversial figures in the NFL lately.
Referee No. 122 entered national controversy when he blew two calls during the fourth quarter of the Detroit Lions-Dallas Cowboys game last Saturday. The first one was a tripping penalty on tight end Peyton Hendershot involving defensive end Aiden Hutchinson. A replay later revealed that the opposite scenario had happened, meaning an offensive touchdown could have been scored on that play.
But the biggest controversy came in his handling of the Lions' lead-grabbing two-point conversion. Offensive tackle Taylor Decker attempted to report as eligible, but Dan Skipper was instead designated, causing the former to be hit with illegal touching on the first attempt.
Brad Allen named referee of Steelers-Ravens Week 18 game; fans aghast
While Allen and his crew have been banned from postseason officiating, that does not mean he will no longer have a high-profile assignment.
On Tuesday, the NFL announced that he would be handling the Week 18 game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. While the former has long clinched the AFC's top seed, the latter is still trying to re-enter the playoffs.
That announcement has predictably been met with condemnation by fans on X:
Columnist analyzes Brad Allen's Lions-Cowboys gaffe
There have been plenty of hot takes about Brad Allen and his decisions in Saturday's game, with Ryan Clark using a strong word to describe what influenced them.
But for The Athletic's Mike Sando, three factors made the referee and his crew do what they did. The first was imperfect pregame protocol, or more specifically the referee's lack of direct input in pregame meetings:
"The idea that Campbell stared into Allen’s eyes while discussing the trick play during a pregame meeting sounds great, but that is not how these meetings go," Sando said. "The referee himself does not attend said meetings. Crew members meet with the head coach on the referee’s behalf."
Next was an overemphasis on the place of play, more specifically speeding up games:
"The NFL has pushed officials to cut game times by speeding up game administration," Sando said. "Allen appeared to hurry when listening for which players were eligible, turning away from Lions players to inform the Dallas defense."
And finally, he mentioned the issue of the NFL's overemphasis on how much referees would cost to hire, rather than how well they perform:
"The league has resisted hiring full-time crews because it would cost much more to pry their current officials away from careers in other fields. The league needs to make officiating a career, not a second job."
He also opined that 100 years from now, fans would be wondering why part-timers were being entrusted with handling games when a full-time staff would do the job better.
