Although the Seattle Seahawks dominated the proceedings in Super Bowl LX, the game highlighted a controversial refereeing decision against the Patriots. 

At 14:08 remaining on the clock, New England’s Bryce Baringer punted a 52-yard ball at the Seahawks’ 9 in the third quarter. However, the Seattle fullback, Brady Russell, moved before the snap was even made, making it an “offside” penalty. 

Unfortunately for the Patriots, the referees blatantly ignored the penalty and kept the play on. As a result, Seattle took advantage, with Jason Myers comfortably converting a 41-yard field goal at 9:12, to increase the lead to 12 points.

However, this was not the first time a wrong refereeing decision has caused a controversy during a Patriots game. During the second quarter of the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Broncos, Jarrett Stidham narrowly escaped a sack near their own end zone and threw the ball away at 2:59 remaining on the clock. 

Officials initially flagged him for intentional grounding, drawing an angry reaction from the head coach, Mike Vrabel, who later challenged the decision. After review, the call was overturned to a fumble. 

New England’s fans, visibly frustrated by constant errors from the officials, expressed their anger on social media.

Patriots Fans Enraged over the unfair refereeing calls

One fan didn't hesitate to say that the NFL was against the Patriots, implying that the game was "Rigged."

Another fan was shocked by how the officials just ignored the penalty. He said, "And what’s crazy is we have the technology to fix the missed call in less than one minute by watching a replay with the sky Judge."

The resentment against the unfair decisions was so bad that a fan said this, "This game is turning into the worst Super Bowl watched /played."

On the other side, some fans even stated that a penalty wouldn't have changed the New England side's fate.

"Yeah!!! That's the difference, could you imagine if the Pats got their 3rd first down of the day?!?! Oh wait... they would still have zero f****** points."

"Wouldn't have helped anyway," another fan said.

What is your opinion on the controversial decision? Do you think the penalty would've helped the Patriots in any way? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Kalp Thaker

Edited by

Joyita Das