Report: NFL flexes referee Alex Moore's crew out of prime time
NBC Sports • • sports
Key Points:
- The NFL chose not to move the Sunday night game between the 2-5 Eagles and 1-4-1 Commanders out of prime time, despite other more compelling Sunday afternoon matchups.
- The league did reassign the officiating crew, moving Alex Moore’s crew from the Eagles-Commanders game to the Patriots-Dolphins game, with Shawn Hochuli’s crew taking over Sunday night.
- According to Football Zebras and unnamed officiating sources, this change is motivated by optics rather than disciplinary reasons, aiming to avoid highlighting Moore’s crew’s poor performance in a recent Packers-Lions game.
- Moore’s crew had multiple controversial calls in Week 7, including questionable roughing the passer penalties and a phantom illegal hit, prompting the NFL to avoid further scrutiny during prime time broadcasts.
- Typically, officiating crews are assigned without regard to broadcast prominence, but this reassignment suggests the league is managing the narrative to minimize negative commentary from broadcasters like Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth.
