Bruce Arians voiced his displeasure with the officials' performance in the Buccaneers' 31-24 loss to the Saints on Sunday.
The Tampa Bay coach called the officiating "baffling" and lost two challenges that should have been overturned.
The first challenge came at 2:20 in the first quarter when Saints punt returner Deonte Harris lost the ball after he was tackled by T.J. Logan. Harris fell on Logan, which prevented him from hitting the turf, as the ball came out. Tampa Bay's Antony Auclair jumped on the ball and said he had it, but the officials called it a muffed punt and Harris recovered.
Arians challenged the call, but officials said Harris was down by contact and the ball remained in the Saints' possession.
“They blew the call. It’s simple,” Arians said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “It was a clear recovery on the fumble. (Auclair) came running out of the pile with (the ball), and they knew it. … It’s all coming from New York.”
The next play that upset Arians was in the third quarter, when Saints receiver Michael Thomas ran for 42 yards, but Arians said there was offensive pass interference. He challenged that play, but the refs declined to call a foul on Thomas.
LOL
— Ashlie (@EMT_Ashlie) October 6, 2019
This was challenged and deemed NOT OPI pic.twitter.com/GwWeZHHGRB
"If that's not (pass interference), I don't know what the hell is," Arians said. "A two-handed shove that knocked the guy backwards. They said they were hand-fighting. Yeah they were hand-fighting, but that doesn't knock the guy backwards."
Arians likely will be fined for his comments on officiating. Last season, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was hit with a $25,000 fine when he publicly criticized the officials after a game.