Referees miss blatant hit to Jordan Love’s facemask during ‘TNF’ game

An unwelcome tune returned on “Thursday Night Football” this week.

During the first quarter of Thursday’s divisional game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, the referees had an ugly miss with a hit on Packers quarterback Jordan Love. On a 3rd-and-5 play from the Detroit 47-yard line, Love got pressured and managed to get rid of the ball before getting sacked.

But replays made clear that Love was very obviously whacked in the facemask by Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith on the play. No flag was thrown though, and the Packers had to punt the ball away after Love’s pass fell incomplete.

Take a look at the clip.

According to NFL rules, a roughing-the-passer penalty should be called if a defender “forcibly hits the quarterback’s head or neck area with his helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder.” The hit by Smith clearly met that criteria but still went uncalled. As a result, the Packers were denied a fresh set of downs and an extra 15 yards that would have put them in field-goal range.

Thursday night games have become notorious for missed calls on shots to the facemasks of quarterbacks. In Week 8, Minnesota QB Sam Darnold got his facemask grabbed at a crucial moment with no call, and then in Week 10, Cincinnati star QB Joe Burrow was smacked in the facemask on the game-deciding two-point attempt and failed to get a flag too. Though the hit on Love’s facemask this week wasn’t at nearly as pivotal of a point in the contest, it was an equally bad whiff no less.