The end of a close contest between the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals was marred Monday night by two questionable officiating decisions that completely changed the outcome of the game.

The first time this happened was in an attack. Justin Herbert attempted to pass the ball to Simi Fehoko, who was nowhere around after being tied up with a defender. It was a misunderstanding between Herbert and Fehoko who had broken into the route, but it did not change the fact that there was illegal contact.

At first the flag was thrown, but later it was raised. The Chargers were forced to make a field goal and extended the lead to 15–14 on the ensuing play.

This was followed by a late call to Marvin Harrison Jr. for an incompletion on second-and-10, which initially forced the Cardinals to take third-and-long from their own 30. Rookie defensive end Cam Hart was flagged for unnecessary roughness, although contact was minimal and the fall was not the result of contact.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh was unhappy with the calls on the field and addressed those calls quite vocally in his postgame press conference. Meanwhile, team manager Clete Blakeman took the opportunity to explain the two calls on his availability after the game, unintentionally upsetting Chargers fans even more.

Regarding the call to Hart, Blakeman said“It was essentially helmet-to-helmet contact in the receiver’s head and neck area that triggered the foul for unnecessary roughness.”

Blakeman may have explained the thought process behind these two decisions, but in doing so he in no way justified the calls. In fact, all Blakeman did was make Chargers fans even more angry due to poor officiating.

Starting with the second of the two calls, Blakeman’s explanation at least makes some sense as to why it was called. At first glance, it appeared that Hart was leading with the crown of his helmet and made contact with Harrison, which by definition would have been a penalty.

However, this was not actually the case as Hart made contact with Harrison’s shoulder first and there was minimal contact with the helmet. It was a bad shot that looked worse than it actually was. So while the initial reaction may have been to throw the flag, the judges actually should have come to a different conclusion after they came together.

As for not calling Fehoko… well, that’s blatant. Blakeman confirmed that the umpires raised the flag because the ball was deemed uncatchable. The only problem with this explanation is that it doesn’t matter if the ball cannot be caught through illegal contact.

By definition, a defender “may not initiate contact with a receiver who is attempting to evade him. The defensive player may only use his hands or arms to defend or protect himself from impending contact caused by the receiver” outside the five-yard area.

The contact began outside the five-meter zone. It would be one thing for Blakeman to say that Fehoko appeared to have taken the wrong route and that the contact had no impact on the game. But in his explanation, Blakeman did not dispute the fact of contact, and simply said that he was picked up because the ball was impossible to catch.

It still doesn’t make any sense.