Of the 16 penalty flags thrown during the Tennessee Titans' 32-27 victory over the Arizona Cardinals Thursday night, eight hit the LP Field turf during a fourth quarter when everyone was praying for no injuries and no overtime and fans were making their way to the exits.
The fourth-quarter flag party included back-to-back holding calls during field-goal attempts by Titans rookie kicker Will Batson. The first offender on that sequence allegedly was Leroy Harris, who was not on the field. (To be fair, he might have been holding a Gatorade cup a little too aggressively.)
Harris was one of three Titansmisidentified by the officials Thursday night, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. Wyatt adds that Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray made a "The Three Stooges" reference while yelling at the officials toward the end of the game.
"There were a few things," Titans coach Mike Munchak said after the game. "I think they just got a little sloppy at the end. It seemed like nothing was called most of the game, and then all of a sudden, there's a lot of calls. At the end of the game, there was a little confusion on was the last ball complete or incomplete.
"It's things like that that were frustrating. But we want them in, so hopefully that's something they will continue to clean up."
NFL players and coaches have been instructed to not criticize the replacement officials, so Munchak wisely ended his comments on a positive note. What's said on the field, however, cannot be closely legislated by the league office, so unless there's some video/audio evidence of the remarks, Gray should be safe.
Follow Brian McIntyre on Twitter _@brianmcintyre_.
