Social media explodes over bad officiating that costs LA Rams final possession in Week 7 loss

Which is easier? Is it better to cheer for a team that is within striking distance all the way to the final whistle? Or is it better to cheer for a team that is by all accounts out of the game by halftime? I really do not know about the second scenario, but the LA Rams are getting a heavy dose of the first scenario.

This was another game in which the Rams held the opportunity to claim a victory. But the Rams did not win. Instead, the Rams lost their fourth of seven games, this time by the score of 24-17. On paper, the Rams special teams played poorly in Week 7. The Rams passing offense was sub-par as well. And the officiating in the game was so egregious that even objective NFL analysts weigh in on controversial calls.

But that was not the only objective social media outrage regarding the Steelers-Rams game:

There was more where that came from:

Even a former player weighed in:

I won't try to argue the point that NFL officiating cost the LA Rams the game in Week 7. The Rams certainly did plenty to shoot themselves in the foot in this one. But I do have to question what appears to be the rising trend of human error in games. Has the pool of NFL official candidates shrunk so small that the NFL cannot admonish errant decisions? Or has the NFL adopted a rule that it's good business to infuse a bit of subjective controversy into games to ensure emotional outrage?

Even as the access and option for instant replay in the NFL grows to ensure accuracy, it seems as though the human element of snap judgement has regressed to a point where there is no net gain of accuracy in rulings throughout any given game.

The outcomes of games should not be decided by an NFL official, a poor spot of a football, or an errant penalty. The NFL continues to infuse more rules each year to ensure that the outcome of football games is determined by players on the field, and not by the guys in zebra stripes.

And yet, despite all of the technological advances, it seems as though more and more games are decided by bad officiating. Don't take my word for it. Just track the number of objective NFL analysts objecting to the quality of officiating in NFL games today.

No, it's not just the LA Rams that are suffering from this trend. It's simply the fact that the Rams are not a strong enough team to overcome bad calls.