Jim Irsay says NFL admitted officiating errors at end of Browns-Colts game
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay posted on social media that the NFL was aware it's officiating crew erred at the end of Sunday's Colts-Cleveland Browns game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The owner posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday night:
"The NFL admits and understands that they did not make the correct calls at end of Sunday’s Colts/Browns Game," Irsay wrote. "I believe we need to institute Instant Replay for all calls, including Penalties, in the last two minutes of All Games."
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The NFL did not immediately respond on Tuesday night to a request for comment from IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network. But Tom Pelissero, a reporter for the league through the NFL Network, posted on X that team officials are barred from commenting on the communication they receive from the league on calls at the end of games.
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"The NFL communicates with teams on a weekly basis about various calls," Pelissero wrote. "Team officials are prohibited from commenting publicly on those discussions. Now, a team owner has publicly said the league admitted to officiating mistakes. Stay tuned …"
The Browns beat the Colts 39-38 following a pair of controversial penalties whistled on Indianapolis cornerback Darrell Baker Jr.
Baker was called for an illegal contact penalty against Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper that negated E.J. Speed's strip-sack of P.J. Walker that would have ended the game. That ruling gave the Browns a 1st-and-Goal.
Baker was whistled the very next play for pass interference on a ball that Walker threw over the head of wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Three plays later, Kareem Hunt powered the ball in on 4th-and-Goal to give the Browns a 39-38 victory to drop the Colts to 3-4.
Baker took issue with both calls after the game.
"I don’t agree with the penalties at all," Baker Jr. said. "When those balls are uncatchable, usually they don’t throw those flags out, especially when they’re initiating the contact with the corner. You can put your hands on them, too, as long as you’re looking for the ball. I’m not impeding their force or anything. I don’t know what else I can do better on that."
Colts coach Shane Steichen was not as forthright about the calls.
"I mean, they were tough calls," Steichen said Monday. "I’m not going to get into a lot of the officials on that situation. As a team, we’ve got to do better to not put ourselves in those situations at the end of games, not leave it up to those things at the end."
Follow Nate Atkins on Twitter @NateAtkins_.