The Philadelphia Eagles could’ve had a final shot at winning or at least tying the game.
But CB James Bradberry got called for a holding penalty after tugging JuJu-Smith Schuster.
The play wound up giving the Kansas City Chiefs a crucial first down to continue running out the clock and seal the win.
Plenty of people blamed the officials for throwing that flag so late in a tied Super Bowl game, as it ‘robbed’ the Eagles of another chance to score.
That includes sports commentator Kirk Herbstreit, who took to Twitter to voice his rage at the officials for not letting them play:
Usually don’t get involved in ripping referees but HATE that defensive holding call on Bradberry. 35-35 late on a 3rd down incompletion on what was a marginal foul???
Let em play man!!
Bad call-hate that is what many will take away from this game.— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) February 13, 2023
Notably, however, Bradberry later admitted that it was the right call and he had indeed held JuJu, so there’s not much to debate after that.
Of course, one would love to have the game do down to the wire, and maybe Hurts could’ve orchestrated a game-winning drive.
But if we’re going to go at the referees after they finally got a call right, then we’ve pretty much lost sight of what’s actually important.
We’ve put the refs on blast for years for being terrible at their jobs, missing obvious calls, and calling soft penalties.
And yes, you could argue that Bradberry’s hold didn’t affect JuJu’s route.
But the call was right, and they would’ve called it in the first, second, third, and early fourth-quarter anyway, so why not at the end of the game?
As much as we would’ve loved this game to go to overtime, the scoreboard or how much time is left on the clock shouldn’t affect the officials’ decisions.
NEXT: Shannon Sharpe Comments On Super Bowl Holding Call
