Amid NFL ref controversy, Jeffrey Lurie is still bitter over iffy call for Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII
The clock reading 1 minute, 48 seconds is emblazoned on the Eagles owner's mind. “The best way to handle that is to not play in a close game."
NEW ORLEANS — One minute, 48 seconds.
The cheapest call in Super Bowl LVII is a wound that continues to fester. It is a sore that will not heal. Even Jeffrey Lurie can’t let it go.
The Eagles owner said Monday the only way to make sure the refs don’t affect Super Bowl LIX against the NFL’s golden children from Kansas City is to make sure the game is out of reach before it gets too late.
“I mean, there’s so many games in the NFL determined by one call,” Lurie said at media night. “Obviously, what happened with a minute and 48 seconds [left] two years ago is something you’ve got to be resilient and deal with, right?”
As he said it Lurie touched his chest, as if his heart was still broken.
That’s understandable.
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Just hours before Lurie spoke Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed allegations that the league’s officials give the Chiefs preferential treatment: “That’s a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously.”
On Tuesday, Scott Green, the head of the officials’ union, called the pro-Chiefs conspiracy theories ”insulting and preposterous.”
A lot of Eagles supporters don’t consider it preposterous, and they take the matter very seriously. Hell, they consider themselves original victims.
We’re about a week shy of the two-year anniversary of the play that sealed the Chiefs’ win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. It wasn’t a play, really, as much as it was a call. A specious call. A call that accelerated the conspiracy theory that the NFL and its broadcast partners have conspired to make sure that telegenic superstar Patrick Mahomes, father figure coach Andy Reid, pop-star arm candy Travis Kelce, and their Kansas City Chiefs perpetuate a dynasty, by hook or by crook.
To review: With the score tied and with 1:54 to play, on third-and-8 from the Eagles’ 15-yard line, Mahomes dropped back to pass. His primary target was JuJu Smith-Schuster on the left side. Smith-Schuster ran forward and faked to the inside. Eagles cornerback James Bradberry fell for the fake. Smith-Schuster then broke left. Bradberry, now off-balance, subtly tugged Smith-Schuster’s jersey, breaking the receiver’s stride. Bradberry then placed his hand lightly on Smith-Schuster’s hip. Mahomes fired the ball to the back pylon of the end zone, a pass most likely uncatchable had Bradberry never touched the receiver.
Before the ball hit the ground, Mahomes was pointing and motioning for a penalty call. As if following Mahomes’ order, a flag flew from the sideline. The result was a first down. The time remaining on the clock at State Farm Stadium (sponsored by a company that employed Mahomes and Reid as spokesmen) burned these numerals into Lurie’s brain: 1 minute, 48 seconds.
Instead of his team getting the ball back with more than a minute and a half to play in a game in which they had already scored 35 points, the Eagles could do nothing. It was the longest 108 seconds of Lurie’s life. He was in agony as the Chiefs ran the clock down to 11 seconds, then kicked the game-winning field goal.
In the moment, Eagles coaches, players, officials, fans, and a lot of the internet officiating cognoscenti were outraged that such a big game would be decided on such a picayune penalty.
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Immediately afterward, Bradberry admitted that he committed the penalty, but, having played seven years in the NFL, he was shocked that he drew the flag: “I was hoping they would let it slide.”
Later that night, officials explained: “The receiver went to the inside, and he was attempting to release to the outside. The defender grabbed the jersey with his right hand and restricted him from releasing to the outside. So, therefore, we called defensive holding.”
Seriously?
“No debate.”
Actually, there was. And there still is.
Lurie was asked Monday how his team should handle playing a Chiefs team that is perceived to benefit from orchestrated bias. Interestingly, Lurie declined to deny the bias. Then he brought up the incident from 2023.
“The refs do the best job they can,” he said. “The best way to handle that is to not play in a close game.”
In other words, don’t leave it in the hands of the officials.
“Do what we did with Washington, and, you know, dominate after a while,” he said.
The Eagles led by 25 points midway through the fourth quarter of the NFC championship game. A blowout is the best way to make officials irrelevant.
“You know, that’s the only way,” Lurie said.
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Whether it’s debatable spots or phantom penalties — an art Mahomes has mastered — the Chiefs seem to get the benefit of every doubt. They have won the past two Super Bowls and led the AFC with 15 wins this season. It doesn’t hurt that, during their dominance they have the best coach, the best quarterback, the best defensive coordinator.
But the fact that they’ve won a record 17 consecutive games that were decided by one score or less raises eyebrows, and those eyebrows arch further with every perceived favorable ruling.
Including Lurie’s, apparently.
“It’s up to us to make sure that we play a great football game on Sunday,” Lurie said. “That kind of eliminates all the thoughts.”