Jets starter rips refs with expletive-laden rant after loss to Seahawks

D.J. Reed is usually first to point the finger at himself and his teammates after a frustrating loss. But Sunday night, after multiple key penalties helped turn a 14-point lead into another mind-bending Jets loss, 26-21 to the Seahawks, the thoughtful Jets cornerback took to social media to unload his frustration on the officiating.
Reed not only blasted the refs, he directed his vulgar message on X (formerly known as Twitter) directly at the verified account run by the league for matters of officiating. (Reed semi-censored the expletive but we did a more complete job for this post.)
“@NFLOfficiating you F—ING suck,“ Reed posted less than 15 minutes after the end of the game, ”yall should be ashamed of yall selves.!”
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The post was still up four hours after Reed published it, with no response from the league despite the NFL billing the account as its the “source for updates and gameday rules clarifications directly from the League office.”
However, it’s extremely likely that Reed will be hearing from the league in the next week, in the form of a letter at his locker informing him of a fine (perhaps a significant one), for criticizing and insulting the officials in the most public way possible on social media.
There were several calls that hurt the Jets on Sunday, including an offensive pass interference that wiped out a 41-yard gain from receiver Davante Adams. But Reed was likely most upset about what happened on the Seahawks final drive of the game, when the Jets’ defense was called for four penalties that helped Seattle take the lead and hand the Jets their eighth loss in the last nine games.
The first penalty on that drive, with the Seahawks trailing 21-19 with 9:34 left in the game and going for it on fourth-and-6 from their own 33, was hard to blame on the refs: the Jets were called for too many men on the field because their defense was lining up to stop the Seahawks but punt returner Xavier Gipson was lined up 40 yards behind them ready to field a punt.
How could that happen?
“I’ll take full blame for that,” Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “They [the Seahawks] were going for it on fourth down. Initially, we thought their punt team was coming out, so the punt return unit went out, and then they decided to go for it on fourth. We have to be better at communicating that across the board. I’m so accustomed to signaling to the guys near the ball, [I] forget sometimes that the returner is back there. That’s unacceptable.”
Indeed it was.
The Jets then forced an incomplete on fourth-and-1 from Seattle’s 38, which should have given them the ball and a chance to seal the game with just more than nine minutes left. But rookie cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers, who was in only in the game because of injury and playing just his second ever NFL defensive snap, was called for pass interference on D.K. Metcalf. And just like the first penalty, this one was pretty obvious: Stiggers collided with Metcalf before the receiver could even make a play on the ball. Not only did that keep Seattle’s drive alive, but the 20-yard penalty moved the ball into Jets territory giving Seattle a first down at the New York 42.
Three plays later, on fourth-and-1 from the Jets’ 33, the Jets once again stopped Seattle from converting. But defensive tackle Solomon Thomas was called for horse collar penalty that was so obvious it could be seen in real time from the other side of the stadium, high above the field.
Another first down for the Seahawks, who moved to the Jets’ 17 after the penalty.
And two plays after that, with Seattle facing third-and-6 from the Jets’ 13, the Jets forced an incomplete pass that likely would have forced Seattle to line up for a go-ahead field goal. Instead, they got a first down when defensive end Will McDonald was correctly called for lining up in the neutral zone.
So perhaps Reed’s outburst was more about the frustration of losing again than at the officials, because all of those key calls were pretty obvious. (For good measure, the Jets were also called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the touchdown.)
We respect Reed’s frustration. But the Jets don’t have a ref problem. They have had a committing costly penalty problem all season (and really for most of the last decade).
The Jets have five first downs allowed by penalty on fourth down through 12 games (including the two we mentioned above), which is the most in the NFL this season and the most by any team in a season since 2000 according to ESPN.
And there are still five games to go.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at [email protected].