NFL removes officiating crew from ‘Sunday Night Football’ after poor showing

The NFL wasn't able to flex Sunday night's game between the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles out fo primetime, but it was able to move the uninspiring officiating crew that was set to work the game.

Last week, NFL on Fox lead analyst Tom Brady criticized multiple flags from a crew led by referee Alex Moore during the game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, featured for most of the nation to see in the 4:25 p.m. ET late afternoon window.

On one particularly questionable unnecessary roughness call, Brady described the hit by saying, "That's allowed 99 out of 100."

"It's a bang-bang play," Brady added of the call. "I know in super slow-mo every little minute frame looks like a lot, but when you're on the field you've got to pursue that ball. If he catches that, he needs force to knock him on the ground. He needs force to knock that ball off him as a pass defense. He can't go in there and put his hand on him."

Now, according to a report from Football Zebras, Moore's crew has been moved out of the Sunday Night Football on NBC and will instead work the game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins, which will be regionally televised. The crew led by white hat Shawn Hochuli will officiate the SNF game instead.

"Alex Moore's crew has been switched out of SNF and will officiate Patriots-Dolphins instead. Shawn Hochuli's crew has been moved to cover the primetime game in Washington. Officiating sources say the switch is more about optics rather than a disciplinary action," Football Zebras reported.

NFL officiating has been under unprecedented scrutiny this season. Not only has the wisdom of certain calls been questioned, but the sheer amount of penalty flags has impacted t the entertainment value of the games and has had an outsized impact on important plays and game results.

Officials are always going to make a few calls fans don't agree with, but it seems like the NFL has a good grasp on when those fans might have a legit case and is going to be proactive about dealing with struggling crews.