Add Carolina Panthers safety Mike Mitchell to the list of players unhappy with the officiating this season. Mitchell felt the referees cost his team during Sunday's 23-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and blasted them after the game.
"I can't wait to play them [again] with a new set of refs in a new game," Mitchell said, via ESPN.
Mitchell felt an unnecessary roughness penalty called against him for a hit on Anquan Boldin in the first quarter that led to a 49ers field goal was a mistake.
"That was a terrible call," Mitchell said. "This is playoff football, the National Football League. That was a terrible call. The ball was not on the ground. The replay showed it was still in the air. The receiver actually had an opportunity to bend over and catch the ball.
"It was a terrible call," Mitchell said. "A terrible call. One more time, a terrible call."
That wasn't Mitchell's only issue with the referees. They also failed to flag Boldin after a head-butt late in the second quarter when the Panthers had been penalized under similar circumstances earlier in the game.
"It was just ridiculous," Mitchell said. "A couple of things weren't called the same way. I made a good play taking his legs out, and he gets up in my face and head-butts me, which is the exact same thing you saw Captain Munnerlyn do.
"It was the exact same play," Mitchell said. "One team gets the call, the other doesn't. I guess that's human error in football."
Mitchell also had a problem with a pass interference penalty called against Drayton Florence that set up Vernon Davis' touchdown in the final seconds of the half. One could say blaming the officials shows a case sour grapes, but in this instance, Mitchell seems to have some legitimate concerns.
