Referees royally screwed Rams more than once in brutal loss to Eagles

The Los Angeles Rams knew not to expect much intervention from the NFL referees in Week 3. But to be fair, head coach Sean McVay did everything that he could do to make officials aware of the blatant false starts that have not been getting called when the Philadelphia Eagles call their infamous Tush Push play.

Unfortunately, the officials did play a huge role in their 33-26 loss to the Eagles... and not in the Rams' favor. The rules for "taunting" are fairly simple. An offensive player is permitted to celebrate a successful play as long as he does not direct his actions towards an individual defensive player. Even the broadcast booth was stunned that wide receiver Puka Nacau was flagged for one of the most egregious taunting penalties, which came at a critical moment in the game.

That penalty erased a 20-yard completion. The offense was able to gain nine yards afterwards, but the drive essentially stalled. That allowed Philly to take over from their own 47-yard line.

Referees look like Eagles fans with terrible officiating efforts in Rams' heartbreaking Week 3 loss

Not to be outdone, with 46 seconds to go in the game, Stafford threw a deep ball to wide receiver Puka Nacua. The defensive back was burned on the play so badly that he fell to the ground. But he managed to grab Nacua's trousers from behind and held on long enough to prevent the completion. Anyone who knows football would call that a hold.

However, rather than call the obvious penalty, the officials turned another blind eye.

It feels eerily coincidental that the officials called taunting on Nacua when there was none, but failed to call pass interference when it was blatant. It's no wonder the Eagles' social media account was so confident in the hours leading up to the Week 3 contest, as the officials called a one-sided game.

By the end of the game, Nacua hauled in 11 of 15 targets for 112 yards. It's his second 100-plus receiving yard performance, bringing him to 29 catches on 35 targets for 333 receiving yards this season... which makes it interesting as to why they picked on the superstar receiver.

Typically, officials tend to be a bit protective of elite players, but it’s clear that when it comes to this elite player, they seem to have a bone to pick with him.

The game didn’t go the way fans had hoped. There’s plenty to break down, but it’s nearly impossible to pull out a win when facing two opponents — Philly and horrendous officiating. The Philadelphia Eagles seem to have given an entirely new meaning to the term homefield advantage. As always, thanks for reading.

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