Brad Allen is back! Granted, he never left. Those of you who thought the NFL would bury Allen in an inconsequential during the 1PM window on Sunday are dead wrong! Like a cockroach in a nuclear apocalypse, Allen keeps surviving to work primetime games. He will be on the field calling Saturday’s matchup between the Ravens and the Steelers.
On the surface, this game may not mean much at all. Baltimore has the top seed in the AFC locked up, and Pittsburgh needs a lot of help to make it into the postseason. However! I don’t need to be a fan of either team to recognize that this game will always mean something to the fans. Ravens fans will relish in ending Pittsburgh’s season, especially if it comes with the backups playing the majority of the game. On the other hand, Pittsburgh needs this to get into the playoffs. This may be a game without much meaning to a national audience, but it means everything to these two cities.
Having Allen back on the sidelines makes it feel like near destiny for something major to go wrong. Maybe somebody sees Mason Rudolph’s very punch-able face and decides to go full Myles Garrett on him. Maybe another deep ball P.I. gets missed despite it being incredibly obvious (oh yeah, this is the crew that missed THAT call too). Maybe Baltimore won’t get a single call and Pittsburgh gets 20 penalties called on them. I know what you’re thinking and yes, they were that crew from the Miami/Philly game too.
Putting him back in this situation makes no sense, and I can’t understand what Allen did to deserve this. He’s not a great official, and that’s ok. Have him call that Patriots/Jets game instead. Nobody gives a damn about that game except losers like me rooting for draft positioning.
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