The New York Jets got hosed on an obvious penalty Sunday, and Fox color commentator Greg Olsen wasn’t shy about saying so.
During the first quarter of New York’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, Jets running back Isaiah Davis took a handoff on second-and-10. Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith grabbed Davis by the facemask and spun his helmet completely around. The officials didn’t throw a flag, but Olsen made sure to call it out on the Fox broadcast.
The no-call forced the Jets into third-and-six. New York converted the first down but eventually stalled at the goal line and settled for a field goal. A 15-yard facemask penalty would’ve given the Jets a fresh set of downs.
“In live action, I didn’t think it was close,” Olsen said. “I mean, he got his head completely spun around. Dallas got lucky there. That should’ve gotten a personal foul, no question.”
Olsen has made a habit of questioning officiating this season. He criticized a taunting penalty against Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua in Week 3, saying the call didn’t match the spirit of the rule. The facemask no-call was more egregious.
The missed call fits a pattern Jets players and coaches keep pointing to. New York has been flagged 16 times through four games, with 13 accepted. Some were legitimate pre-snap penalties, but the Jets believe they’re getting called for contact that other teams get away with.
Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said after a Week 4 loss to Miami that he believes losing teams don’t get the same calls as winning programs. He pointed to his own defensive pass interference penalty as an example of officials letting winning teams play while flagging the Jets for similar contact.
Head coach Aaron Glenn didn’t exactly shoot down that theory. He told reporters the Jets would submit some questionable calls to the league for review.
The penalty disparity is real, though, according to The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt.
New York has been flagged for 16 roughing-the-passer penalties since 2022, the most in the NFL. They’ve had five called in their favor. Over the last decade, the Jets have had the second-most penalties called against them and the second-fewest called against opponents. That 139-penalty gap is the largest in football.
Olsen isn’t the first national analyst to call out questionable officiating involving the Jets. Dan Orlovsky blasted the officials during ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast after a late hit on tight end Jeremy Ruckert went uncalled against Miami. Two high-profile analysts in back-to-back weeks pointing out missed calls against New York make the Jets’ complaints harder to dismiss.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.