When NFL players and analysts were watching the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers duke it out at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday, a couple of penalty calls by referees came under fire.
Even the ESPN broadcast crew, consisting of Chris Fowler, Louis Riddick, and Dan Orlovsky, was highly critical of these calls.
NFL Refs Criticized for Questionable Calls
In the third quarter, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan headed downfield for a possible catch. However, referees ruled that McMillan pushed off, resulting in an offensive pass interference call being made.
ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark headed out to X and shared his thoughts: “That’s a bad penalty. Can’t call that. Absolutely unacceptable OPI call on Tet McMillan.”
NFL insider Jordan Schultz posted a video of the play and expressed his views on the wrong decision. “This feels like a soft OPI call on Tetairoa McMillan,” Schultz wrote. “Don’t like it at all.”
This feels like a soft OPI call on Tetairoa McMillan. Don’t like it at all.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 3, 2026
Former NFL player Asante Samuel was also no fan of the OPI call on McMillan. Samuel posted on X, “Are you freaking kidding me? That was not offensive pass interference”.
While watching Carolina do its best to come back from a 13-7 deficit against the Buccaneers, Giants NFL beat writer Art Stapleton for The Record had some choice words, too. Stapleton wrote, “Carolina’s getting screwed. This is brutal.”
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On an earlier play, a Carolina pass was ruled to be a backwards pass and seemed to take the steam out of a potential Panthers’ scoring drive.
Former college football player Ben Houselog didn’t like the look of the referees’ calls, either. He posted on X, “The refs just completely killed the Carolina drive … Could 100% impact the entire game. They should have to answer for that man”.
Play initially gets blown dead
Then ruled a backwards pass, that went out of boundsRefs already in postseason formpic.twitter.com/CBmNLvBzjV
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) January 3, 2026
Cleveland Browns fan Football Chopz believes that the NFL referees made the wrong decision. He wrote on X, “The Panthers just got absolutely hosed by the refs there”.
With 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers held a 16-7 lead. The Panthers were moving the ball down the field and looked poised to score, but their offense turned the ball over.
It’ll be interesting to see how the referees call the rest of this game, as they’re going to hear about it from NFL fans and analysts when the game is over, too.
