The NFL doesn’t only flex games out of primetime.
Alex Moore’s crew has been pulled from the “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Eagles and Commanders, and instead will be on the Patriots-Dolphins afternoon game, according to Football Zebras.
The crew led by Shawn Hochuli will ref the matchup in Washington.
The report cites unnamed officiating sources, and states the change was made “more about optics than a disciplinary action.”
The swap comes after a controversial outing by Moore’s crew during the Week 7 game between the Packers and Lions. That game included two unpopular roughing the passer calls on Green Bay and an unnecessary roughness call on Detroit’s Derrick Barnes.
The Barnes call, which came after the linebacker hit Packers running back Marshawn Lloyd just after the ball went through Lloyd’s hands late in the game, drew criticism from Fox lead analyst Tom Brady.
“Oh, come on, man,” Brady said on the broadcast as the penalty was announced. “That’s allowed 99 out of 100…it’s a bang-bang play.”
Brady was also vocal on a late roughing-the-passer call on Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks.
“No, my goodness, what is that? There’s no way.” Brady exclaimed. “Brooks on the tackle kind of makes a great play. It’s a bang-bang play. He rolls off his body; it’s a great throw by Goff, that’s definitely not roughing the passer.”
Making the Week 8 crew switch helps keep the Week 7 performance out of the spotlight with much of the country getting the Broncos-Chiefs showdown on CBS in that 4:25 pm slot opposite Patriots-Dolphins.
Brady’s complaints were already heard by an audience of 24.67 million last Sunday.
