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Xavier McKinney unloaded on the referees for what he called “bulls–t” officiating, while also saying that the refs “for sure” stole the game from the Packers in a 20-17 loss to the Lions.
The All-Pro safety did not hold back when speaking to reporters about the officiating, which handed the Packers eight penalties — including several controversial ones that left football fans, and even the broadcasters, scratching their heads.
“It’s kinda f–king up the games if I’m being honest,” McKinney said, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, who also reported that the Packers star said the game was “for sure” stolen by the referees.
Two roughing the passer penalties have drawn particular scrutiny.
One on Packers defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. was called as he was battling for position with Lions center Cade Mays, which resulted in Cox getting tripped up by Mays and falling into Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
Another one occurred late with the game tied at 17 when Goff dropped back to pass to tight end Sam LaPorta, and defensive tackle Karl Brooks broke through to put pressure on the QB and put him on the ground.
The flag came out — which had former quarterback and Fox analyst Tom Brady saying “oh my goodness, what is that?” on the broadcast — resulting in 15 yards being tacked on to the end of the play.
“We’re not seeing the same calls for our quarterback,” McKinney said, while also calling some of the officiating “bulls–t.”
There were other eyebrow-raising calls, including a third-quarter penalty on Green Bay after referee Terry Killens went into a skirmish between two opposing players and got inadvertently kicked by Amon-Ra St. Brown. Devonte Wyatt was called for unnecessary roughness for tackling Brown after the whistle, leading to the kick. Multiple Packers said postgame they did not hear a whistle. A pass interference call took an interception by Brandon Cisse off the board in the same quarter.
“We ruled that the play was over,” referee Alex Moore told a pool reporter of the Wyatt penalty. “I can’t honestly hear if there was a whistle or not, but the tackler made the tackle, the play was over. Then, there was an additional action, and he basically tackled him again with force after the play was over.”
Jordan Love was called for intentional grounding under questionable circumstances. Moore said it was ruled the throw “did not make it to the line of scrimmage.”
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters that he didn’t “even want to comment on any of the penalties.”
McKinney was more than happy to speak about them and take whatever fine may come his way as a result.
“It is what it is. I see what is going on and it is what its, they going to fine you for anything at this point in this league,” he said. “I would rather get fined and try to help my team out cause I see what’s going on. I see it’s killing us. We all see it, we all see what’s going on. Everybody see what’s going on. The fans see what’s going on. We see what’s going on, we out there.”
He added: “It’s a lot of s–t that doesn’t make sense right now, but at the end of the day we still have to find ways to go out there and try to win these games. It’s making it a little bit harder when the officiating is that way, if I’m being honest.”
