NFL fans call out referees over flag against Commanders' Mike Sainristil: "The call was bulls**t"

Mike Sainristil was left scratching his head after the referees called an illegal contact penalty against the Commanders cornerback against the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. The two teams were going head-to-head with the knowledge that whoever won would get to the first spot in the NFC East.

With so much on the line, the margins are often small. The Washington defense was phenomenal for most of the first half as it did not give Philadelphia even a sniff of a touchdown. It did not help that the Eagles missed a couple of field goals, too. Leading 7-0, the Commanders would have been hopeful of keeping the home team scoreless going into the break.

But in Philadelphia's final drive of the half, Washington gave up a penalty after Mike Sainristil gave up a penalty for illegal contact. It allowed the Eagles to score a touchdown before the second quarter ended. Much to the frustration of the visiting team's fans, the referees' calls seemed to be very soft.

Fans took to X/Twitter to express their frustration with the officiating. Here are some reactions from the social media platform.

Mike Sainristil got a lot of sympathy from NFL supporters with some blaming A.J. Brown for selling the referees that his route was disrupted. Here are some more responses.

"AJ sold that he disrupted the route. Great play" - wrote one.

"National Flag League. Awful." - moaned another.

"This isn't illegal contact lmao. Wtf" - complained a third fan.

Referees compensate Commanders for Mike Sainristil penalty with a missed call against Eagles

The referees could not be blamed for being biased in favor of the home team as they made a very bad call in the same drive. This time it went against Philadelphia and spared Washington from having to defend on their goalline. On a third-and-goal, Jalen Hurts' facemask was grabbed and then he was driven into the ground.

Had that been spotted, it would have led to a first-and-goal with time remaining for three plays that could have given the Eagles a touchdown. Instead, nothing was called and the quarterback had to go into the medical tent for a concussion evaluation.

Luckily for the home fans, Jalen Hurts came out of that unscathed and there was no certainty that they would have scored the touchdown after the Commanders' defense limited them in the first half. However, one thing both sets of fans could agree on was that the referees, yet again this season, were the center of attention.