Referees rob the Chargers of their hard-fought victory with an inexplicable decision against the Cardinals

The Chargers failed to win the first primetime game of the Jim Harbaugh era on Monday night as the Bolts lost 17-15 to the Arizona Cardinals. While the lack of an offensive touchdown (thanks in part to Jalen Reagor's faux pas) is concerning, the biggest story from Monday night is once again the officiating.

Los Angeles looked for another defensive stop with a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter. The drive started promisingly for the Bolts as Marvin Harrison fired off a second-and-10 pass attempt to get to third-and-long from Arizona's 30. Nothing was guaranteed, but the cards were stacked against the Cardinals.

That is…until the laundry fell on the floor. Rookie cornerback Cam Hart was penalized for unnecessary roughness because his helmet ever so slightly brushed against Harrison's. The influence was only noticeable when played back in slow motion and had absolutely no impact on the piece itself.

But for the referees on Monday evening it was a penalty. This gave Arizona 15 yards and the momentum the offense needed to get into field goal range and score the game-winning score. In this way, Chargers fans feel like a win was stolen from them.

It's really hard to understand the logic behind the penalty against Cam Hart. Sure, that's what it looked like as if Hart led with his helmet and on paper, leading with his helmet during a tackle is an unnecessary roughness penalty.

But don't you have to actually make contact for that to be a punishment? Sure, the look of the piece looked like this could have had It would have been bad if the crown of Hart's helmet was connected to Harrison. But that didn't happen! Hart grazed Harrison, but the referees threw a flag on it could have had happened.

Ironically, the same logic didn't apply to the drive before, when the Chargers would have had a chance to use up more clock and potentially score a touchdown. Wideout Simi Fehoko was completely stopped by a go ball that Justin Herbert threw into the end zone.

Admittedly there seemed to have been a miscommunication on the route as Fehoko didn't sell out to the go route. However, it doesn't change the fact that he was pinned down and had absolutely no chance of reaching the go-ball if he tried to reach it. This obvious reality passionate Jim Harbaugh on the sidelinesand for good reason.

We judge based on what could have happened, right? If so, that would have been an obvious penalty that would have given the Chargers a first down and a chance to put the game on ice.

But hey, that logic doesn't apply to the Chargers for some reason.