Most Egregious Referee Calls From Panthers' Week 3 Loss vs. Browns

There are plenty of things the Panthers can point to after Sunday's 21-18 loss to Cleveland. They settled for too many field goals, couldn't protect a late lead and still had an opportunity to win the game on their final possession.

The officiating probably isn't at the top of that list, but that doesn't mean there weren't some questionable calls.

The interesting part is they didn't all go against Carolina. The Panthers benefited from a few calls and no-calls before getting hit with a big one late in the fourth quarter.

So blaming the officials for the loss would be a stretch. Saying they didn't have an impact on the game would be too.

Those Roughing Calls on Bryce Young Were Questionable

Cleveland was called for roughing Bryce Young twice on the same Carolina drive late in the second quarter. Getting two of those calls that close together is going to get some attention, especially when at least one of them looked pretty soft.

Maybe that's just where we are with protecting quarterbacks in today's NFL. Officials have a tough job trying to make that call at full speed, but it's easy to understand why Cleveland would've had a problem with them.

The second roughing call came after Young completed a 30-yard pass to Chuba Hubbard, so Carolina was already getting a big play before the penalty moved them even closer. Cleveland was also called for defensive holding later in the drive, giving the Panthers another opportunity near the goal line.

After all of that, Carolina still came away with only a field goal.

That was probably the bigger problem for the Panthers. They moved the ball well enough to finish with 362 yards, but Ryan Fitzgerald kept coming onto the field because drives weren't ending in touchdowns.

Carolina Got Away With One on Deshaun Watson

Then there was the Princely Umanmielen sack of Deshaun Watson.

Umanmielen got to Watson in the second half and brought him down for a sack, but the replay appeared to show him grabbing Watson's facemask in the process. No flag came out.

Carolina got a break there.

Instead of Cleveland potentially getting 15 yards and a first down, the Panthers got the sack. In a game decided by three points, that's a pretty big difference.

It's also why I have a hard time saying the officiating went against Carolina all afternoon. The Panthers had some calls go their way too, and this was probably the most obvious one.

Then Came the Biggest Call of the Game

Sep 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Carolina Panthers linebacker Princely Umanmielen (3) sacks Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) during the third quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is the one that's going to get the most attention.

With Carolina leading 18-13 late in the fourth quarter, Watson took a shot into the end zone. Will Lee made a nice play to knock the pass away, and it looked like the Panthers had come up with another big defensive stop.

Then the flag came out.

Bobby Okereke was called for roughing the passer after making contact with Watson's head. Instead of the incompletion leaving Cleveland with another down, the penalty gave the Browns a fresh set of downs, with Carolina trying to protect a five-point lead.

That turned out to be huge.

A few plays later, Watson found Harold Fannin Jr. for the go-ahead touchdown. Cleveland converted the two-point attempt and took a 21-18 lead.

That's what makes the timing of the call so frustrating for Carolina. The defense appeared to have done its job on the play, and suddenly Cleveland had another opportunity.

The Browns took advantage of it.

Was there enough there for a roughing call? That's probably going to depend on who you ask. What isn't really up for debate is how much the penalty mattered at that point in the game.

The Officials Didn't Cost Carolina the Game

It's tempting to look at that late flag and make it the reason Carolina lost. I don't think you can do that after looking at everything that happened Sunday.

The Panthers got some breaks too. Cleveland was called for roughing Young twice on the same drive, and Umanmielen got away with what looked like a facemask on Watson.

More importantly, Carolina had chances to make all of those calls irrelevant.

The Panthers had an 18-13 lead late in the fourth quarter. They kicked four field goals instead of finishing more drives with touchdowns, and the offense still got the football back after Cleveland took the lead.

The Okereke penalty mattered. There's no getting around that. Cleveland scored the winning touchdown just a few plays later.

But there were enough questionable calls going both ways that putting this loss on the officials doesn't really work.

Carolina had its chances.

They just didn't take advantage of enough of them.

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