Fans blame referees for botched call as Eagles recover Packers fumble - "Clear recovery by Nixon," "NFL is rigged"

The NFC slate of the playoffs began with the Packers visiting Philadelphia to take on the Eagles and, unfortunately, referees dominated the news from the first possession. The officials have been in the midst of many controversial calls this season and in playoff games in previous years but few would have expected a contentious call on the opening kickoff.

The Packers received the ball and Keisean Nixon chose to return it. Eagles' Jeremiah Trotter tackled him and it looked to be a helmet-to-helmet contact. The referees did not call anything, though, and the Green Bay player lost the ball on contact. However, he looked to have recovered the fumble. While the officials could be forgiven for giving Philadelphia the ball initially, it was hard to understand why the call was not overturned on booth review.

It looked as if Keisean Nixon had both fumbled and recovered the ball based on replay. But because the call stood, the Eagles could mount an offensive drive of their own that resulted in a go-ahead touchdown. Fans were furious with the referees and took to X/Twitter to slam the officials and the league. Here are some of the comments.

The reactions continued with many calling it embarrassing and accusing the referees of unduly interfering. Here are some more posts from the social media platform.

"Embarrassing from the NFL that’s packers [sic] ball" - said one.

"Refs deciding games They play draft king too" - was another cynical reply.

"Thank you for showing the replay crew is doing lines in the bathroom rather than their job" - fumed a third.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts makes Packers pay after referees' non-call

What was more frustrating for the Packers is that it gave great position to the Eagles once the referees' initial call was upheld. What would be more worrying, though, is how they conceded the touchdown from that. First, they struggled to contain Saquon Barkley despite having all week to prepare for his threat.

Then, the Philadelphia offensive line dominated Green Bay's defensive front as Jalen Hurts had all the time in the world to throw an endzone pass to Jahan Dotson. He was not pressured on the dropback at all and it was the longest time the Eagles quarterback had all season to throw a touchdown pass.

The officials certainly did not help the Packers with their first call but they did not help themselves with their reaction to it either.