Ja'Marr Chase Openly Questions Refs on Twitter After Suspect Calls

The NFL is under fire again after yet another playoff game was marred by poor officiating. This time it was the Cincinnati Bengals and their fans who were the victims of questionable refereeing, which may have cost them a second straight trip to the Super Bowl.

Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase was one of many who blasted the refs in Cincinnati's devastating 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.

Bengals Bad Calls

Chase took to Twitter to call out the umpires' decision to give the Chiefs a do-over on a critical third down play in the fourth quarter. With the score tied at 20-20 and roughly 10 minutes remaining in the game, Kansas City failed to convert on third-and-long. The referees belatedly nullified the play, however, because of a timekeeping mistake on the previous down.

The Chiefs were thus given a puzzling re-do, which worked out in their favor when Bengals cornerback Eli Apple was flagged for a holding penalty, giving Kansas City a first down.

While the Chiefs ultimately punted later in the drive, the ruling ultimately kept the ball in Kansas City's hands for an additional minute and 10 seconds, which could have been the difference in a game that was ultimately decided by a field goal.

Many fans and players took issues with other calls during the game as well, most notably a controversial late hit call against Cincinnati that eventually set up the game-winning field goal.

While teams getting screwed by officiating in professional sports is nothing new, it's especially unfortunate that it happened to the Bengals during their most important game of the season. They now face a long, painful offseason full of second-guessing and what-ifs.