New Orleans Saints fans have plenty to gripe about after Monday Night Football's game between the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings. In the latest example of inconsistent officiating, the Buffalo Bills were helped in a similar situation to the one that cost New Orleans a pivotal defensive touchdown in their season-opening loss to the Detroit Lions. When a Minnesota pass went sideways and was recovered by the Buffalo defense, it was ruled as a fumble. The Bills won the game 23-6.

ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk backed up the ruling: "A pass is backward if it doesn't go forward. So a pure lateral that goes purely to the side is a backward pass by rule. It has to go forward to be forward."

But that wasn't the case when Saints edge rusher Chase Young sacked Lions quarterback Jared Goff, forcing a fumble that safety Jonas Sanker recovered for a touchdown. Instead, officials on the scene determined that Goff threw a forward pass even as the ball flew backwards away from him. It was his intent to go forward even if it went backwards. New Orleans lost in overtime but the game wouldn't have gone to extra minutes if the play had stood. And Young would be alone in second place with nine sacks instead of tied with Bills standout Greg Rousseau at eight (Houston Texans star Will Anderson Jr. leads the league at 9.5). Rousseau was the one who came away with this turnover on Monday night.

These frustrating gaffes will continue until the NFL stops pinching pennies and pivots to full-time, professional officiating crews. So long as they keep relying on part-time amateurs who return to their day jobs as architects and attorneys in the offseason rather than working to perfect their craft like the players and coaches they oversee, incoherent calls will keep happening. And with the NFL expanding its relationship with sportsbooks every year, conspiracy theories about what motivates these decisions are only going to get louder. It won't be long until the league office has a crisis on its hands.