A.Q. Shipley Defends Tristan Wirfs
December 3rd, 2025
Has former Bucs teammate Tristan Wirfs’ back.
Lost in the yawning of the Bucs snapping their losing streak with a snoozer of an escape from a team that has lost 9 of its last 10 games and is hellbent on having a top-five draft pick next spring was a horrible holding call on Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs.
And it triggered Bucs Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman and former assistant offensive line coach A.Q. Shipley.
Many fans know Shipley best for his regular appearances on the “Pat McAfee Show” where Shipley breaks down and highlights offensive line play across the NFL.
Shipley took to Twitter this week to demonstrate how the penalty on Wirfs was no penalty at all and explained how tackles are taught to use “the chop,” which he said Wirfs did perfectly on the play in question. Shipley also had a few harsh words for the zebra who threw the flag.
In the video, Shipley pleaded with NFL officials to quit penalizing tackles for using legal techniques.
Wirfs was asked after the game about the call. The FOX broadcast showed Wirfs to be heated in the moment. Fearing he might get a nastygram from NFL strongman Roger Goodell for speaking the truth, Wirfs would only say about the call, “I like my money.”
(Hat tip: @stuckwithgreen.)
ALL THE GOOD TACKLES USE THE CHOP TECHNIQUE.
PLEASE STOP CALLING IT A PENALTY!
Heres Tristan Wirfs from yesterdays Game vs the Cardinals…#wearethekrewe #nfl #inthetrenches #chop #penalty #ref #referee #oline #ol #coach #coaching @TristanWirfs78 @Buccaneers https://t.co/fVu5x82y07 pic.twitter.com/53murT17Hu
— AQ Shipley (@aqshipley) December 1, 2025
December 3rd, 2025 at 5:39 am
If it’s a legal move, why aren’t the officials reversing the call? EVER?
Where’s the accountability for such a persuasive position and power base the zebras hold sway over?
Where can a person find the official guidelines demonstrating ALL legal and illegal movements on the grid iron?
Who penalizes the zebras? Who takes action against them once it is realized that they ARE indeed dirty b@stards that are “Manipulating the Score and Obviously ON THE TAKE”?
And finally, WHY haven’t we EVER heard of a zebra that was subject to Disciplinary Actions?
Anybody got answers?
WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY?
December 3rd, 2025 at 6:12 am
^The booth in NY.
December 3rd, 2025 at 6:12 am
Total Power
December 3rd, 2025 at 6:33 am
Multi billion dollar industry in the hands of a few part time incompetent fools.
Sounds about par for the course.
December 3rd, 2025 at 6:45 am
Agree with the sentiment so far in the comments. Bad look on NFL officiating. Wiped out a great play for getting Emeka Baker connection going again too! The fantasy fans is one thing but the betting fans is another. Hope no one had Emeka on a reception yards parlay lol
December 3rd, 2025 at 6:48 am
Do these refs make calls based on a dude falling down? Sure looked like it on that one. As pointed out by Moose Johnston. WT…!!!
BTW Luke has been the victim of this kind of stuff multiple times this year.
Go Bucs!
December 3rd, 2025 at 8:00 am
You can see the Cardinal player’s jersey ride up near the end, I wonder if that’s what drew the flag.
December 3rd, 2025 at 8:27 am
The person who threw the flag had a terrible angle on the “penalty”. You’d think he’d point that out and get it double checked??? He can’t see through Wirfs to see what he did exactly.
December 3rd, 2025 at 8:27 am
1. Officials need to be full time employees with more accountability
2. If New York can chime in and change calls then that should happen for things like this too.
3. In real time when a player is moving quickly and you see an up and down move of the tackles arm and the guy fall to the ground it could have the appearance like he pulled on him and pulled him down to the ground. I can see where if the angle you’re at it might not be so evident what caused him to go down honey assumption is it was a hold.
Agreed though bad officiating just like so many other plays every game…..
December 3rd, 2025 at 8:49 am
Need full time officials and have extensive background reports on them making sure they have no ties to gambling. A buttload of money changes hands on these game changing calls.
December 3rd, 2025 at 8:55 am
This league sucks. Zero effort if calling this game right. The shield is made of glass. Zero integrity. Zero investment from me other than watching the bucks get robbed week after week year after year with bad calls. Meanwhile LA gets the most beneficial calls. Consistently. Hmmm
December 3rd, 2025 at 9:24 am
Does “This Joe” have any objectivity?
December 3rd, 2025 at 9:28 am
Just noticed… thank you for the hat tip, Joe!
December 3rd, 2025 at 10:10 am
Is anyone considering full on corruption? At the core $$$$
Let’s get real
December 3rd, 2025 at 11:10 am
Just poor officiating. The league has to send out an email with this video explaining that this is NOT a foul. I’ve seen other games where the chop is getting called a penalty.
Simeon Rice used to use this move and seldom – if ever – got called on it. I think this is called when the defensive player goes to the ground. Officials seem to always key in on that and throw the flag.
Officiating has gotten worse over time.
December 3rd, 2025 at 1:42 pm
There were multiple terrible penalty calls in that game… between this game and the Winfield double robbery game, these are two of the worst officiated games in recent memory.
December 3rd, 2025 at 2:30 pm
In basketball they call it pulling the chair out from under him. Same premiss, he wants to fall on his face, just pointing him in the right direction, the ground. It wasn’t a penalty, it was the law of gravity.
December 3rd, 2025 at 3:08 pm
Gee! It’s almost like the refs don’t know what the rules are. (sarcasm)
December 3rd, 2025 at 5:55 pm
1. Refs full time
2. Better training
3. More cameras, everywhere.
4. Every single play constantly reviewed during the course of the game.
5. If they need more time or need to overturn something, they can notify the official on the field for a quick stop and fix.
6. Get rid of the stupid challenge flag. Get rid of the stupid challenge flag. The point is to get it right.
7. Be able to overturn everything. Stop protecting the referees feelings by not allowing subjective calls to be overturned.
Again, the point is to get it right