NFL referee Brad Allen and his officiating crew were among the stars in Week 18’s massive NFC South matchup between the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . . . but for all the wrong reasons.
Saturday’s showdown featured a handful of controversial calls from its refs, all of which worked against the eventual losers—the Panthers. Carolina’s 16-14 loss—which stopped them from clinching their first division title in a decade—may, in fact, be remembered most for these . . .
Moderately insane chain of events.
Bryce Young throws obvious backward pass to Dowdle, who picks it up with room to run but it’s whistled dead immediately by an official who ruled it a forward pass. Referee Brad Allen then announces it’s a backward pass “that went out of bounds”… pic.twitter.com/csa1XQkUKP
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) January 3, 2026
Bucs rip the helmet right off of a Panthers player with no flag… pic.twitter.com/Jx4UUtiO0n
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) January 3, 2026
Just embarrassing that this is a pass interference call on Tetairoa McMillan, regardless of what ESPN rules analyst is claiming.
🎥 @TWDTV1pic.twitter.com/JDnk4lUu7u
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (BlueSky too now) (@sluggahjells) January 3, 2026
Otton trips over himself and the Panthers get flagged for pass interference pic.twitter.com/PkNJv7I9yj
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) January 3, 2026
Allen, who chatted with FOX Sports’ Brad Auman following the game, provided explanations for the questionable rulings on the backwards pass to running back Rico Dowdle and the offensive pass interference on wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan . . .
Ref Brad Allen’s interview with pool reporter @gregauman on the erroneous whistle on the Rico Dowdle play, and Tetairoa McMillan’s OPI. pic.twitter.com/bQvtWxaVtr
— Joe Person (@josephperson) January 4, 2026
Panthers head coach Dave Canales was also asked about the calls, but steered clear from amplifying the noise around the officiating.
“I don’t really wanna get into that, because we just didn’t play well enough—offensively, speaking,” Canales told reporters. “We didn’t get our run game going, a bad day on third down—which doesn’t give us an opportunity to extend drives and really have a balanced offense the way that we can play.
“Some missed opportunities out there. So it really just has to be on us and about the execution and all of us making sure we’re in the right plays at the right time.”
Carolina’s playoff hopes now depend on the outcome of tomorrow’s contest between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints. The Panthers would capture the NFC South crown with a Falcons win or a tie.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Ref Brad Allen explains his crew’s bad calls in Panthers’ loss to Bucs
