3 observations about DK Metcalf from the Seahawks Week 15 loss
By Lee Vowell
Why do the referees hate DK Metcalf? I wonder if they got their collective feelings hurt by something Metcalf said to one of them this season. Referees are now throwing unwarranted unsportsmanlike penalty flags at the Seahawks receiver like candy. This isn’t right and the NFL should look into it.
But the league won’t. How dare the NFL actually hold its officials accountable for anything! Officials might not be worthy of being full-time employees, but the group gets more things correct than Stephen Hawking. (This paragraph is just what I am assuming commissioner Roger Goodell thinks by the way the league acts.)
On Thursday versus the 49ers, Metcalf was called once again for an unsportsmanlike penalty. This was basically from taunting. But the thing was, just like most of the other recent flags Metcalf has received for this, he wasn’t doing anything the other team wasn’t doing or saying to him.
The Seahawks are going to need DK Metcalf to be great for the next three games
Observation 1: Metcalf has the proverbial target on his back
So, yes. Metcalf has now been called for eight (!!) off-ball penalties in his career and the number of those penalties is growing at a rapid pace. Metcalf now no longer gets any benefit of the doubt when jawing with another player. The important part that he doesn’t seem to be aware of is, well…he needs to be more aware of that.
If a player gets one unsportsmanlike penalty called on him then maybe he should think before he reacts next time. And in Metcalf’s case, it is clear that if he is talking smack with another player and a flag is thrown, that flag will be on him and not the other player. It’s great to play with passion but he should be more aware that his exuberance is hurting his own team many times.
Metcalf was called for a pass interference call as well against the 49ers. Did he do it? Sure. He grabbed the other player’s jersey, but these kinds of plays happen all the time in the NFL with no flag thrown. And one reason a flag was thrown on Thursday is that it appears NFL officials just hate DK Metcalf.