Bad officiating mars final drive in Bengals-Ravens

[Arkansas Bengal]

• By
• Mike Florio

  

Published November 8, 2024 12:00 AM

 

Joe Burrow had good reason to scowl tonight.

 

A 428-yard passing performance, including 234 of them and three touchdowns to receiver Ja’Marr Chase, was undermined by the failure of the officials to see two clear fouls on what could have been the go-ahead two-point try.

 

Defensive holding, not called. Forcible contact to the head of Burrow, not called.

 

Amazon Prime rules analyst Terry McAulay said that both should have been called. And Al Michaels wasn’t bashful about calling BS on the fact that the no-calls robbed the Bengals of another shot at converting a two-point conversion that would have forced the Ravens to try to get in range for a potential game-winning field goal with 38 seconds left.

 

All too often, officials shove the flags deeper into their pockets in moments like that. But the rules are still the rules, and when the rules are broken it shouldn’t matter whether the foul occurred in the last minute of a game, or the first.

 

And it wasn’t the only questionable officiating decision of the drive. The officials missed — like they did in crunch time of Vikings-Rams two weeks ago — a clear face mask of Burrow early in the drive. (Again, that’s not subject to replay review.) Then, it appeared that a fourth-down attempt by the Bengals came up short.

With the drive starting at the 30, the 40 yard line was essentially the goal line. And it appeared that the knee of receiver Andre Iosivas was down before the ball got to the white stripe.

 

Was it a makeup call of sorts for the missed face mask? Maybe. Regardless, it looked like he didn’t get to the 40.

 

Still, the worst of it came on the two-point play. After the officials missed a clear false start by Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor in overtime of Monday night’s win over the Buccaneers, some in league circles were buzzing about how bad officiating has become.

 

Based on what we saw tonight, no one can credibly say that NFL officiating is fine. Except in the sense of the cartoon dog in the burning room, sipping coffee while he’s inevitably engulfed in flames.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bad-officiating-mars-final-drive-in-bengals-ravens

[Arkansas Bengal]

Bengals' loss to Ravens ends in controversy as officials appear to miss blatant penalties on 2-point attempt

The rules analyst for 'TNF' said Baltimore should have been called for two penalties

 

By John Breech

 

8 hrs ago•1 min read

 

 

 

 

Getty Images

 

The Cincinnati Bengals lost a wild 35-34 game to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, and it's a game that ended in controversy after the officiating crew appeared to miss two blatant penalties on a key two-point attempt in the final minute. 

 

With 38 seconds left to play in the game, Joe Burrow hit Ja'Marr Chase for a 5-yard touchdown that cut Baltimore's lead down to 35-34. The Bengals could have gone for the tie by kicking an extra point, but instead, head coach Zac Taylor decided he wanted to try and put his team ahead by going for two. 

 

On the two-point play, Burrow tried to hit Tanner Hudson, but the pass fell incomplete. There were no flags thrown on the play, but there probably should have been two. Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki got grabbed by a Ravens defender, which easily could have been called defensive holding. On the same play, Burrow also took a shot to the head by a Ravens defender. 

 

The rules analyst for "Thursday Night Football" is former NFL referee Terry McAulay, and he said the Ravens should have been called for both penalties. 

 

"It was clearly defensive holding before the pass was in flight, that should have been called," McAulay said. "And that does look like forceful contact to the head of the quarterback. That's a roughing the passer, it should have been called."

 

If both penalties would have been called, the Bengals would have only been able to accept one of them and they would have gotten to retry their two-point attempt from the 1-yard line. There's obviously no guarantee that they would have made it, but due to the missed penalties, they never got the chance. 

 

Earlier on the drive, the officials also missed another head shot on Burrow. 

 

It was an ugly ending for Clete Blakeman's officiating crew, which actually did a good job for most of the game. 

 

The failed two-pointer was one of the few lowlights for Burrow. The Bengals quarterback had a huge night, throwing for 428 yards and four touchdowns. Chase also had a historic game with 11 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns. 

 

Burrow and Chase almost led a miraculous comeback, but the Bengals came up short, and now, they'll be heading back to Cincinnati with a 4-6 record. 

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bengals-loss-to-ravens-ends-in-controversy-as-officials-appear-to-miss-blatant-penalties-on-2-point-attempt/

[Arkansas Bengal]

Al Michaels rightfully rips refs after 2 missed penalties on Bengals conversion

charles curtis

Fri, Nov 8, 2024, 6:10 AM CST·1 min read

12

 

 

.

 

Officials clearly missed a pair of penalties on the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night as the Cincinnati Bengals attempted a two-point conversion for a lead in the fourth quarter.

 

Joe Burrow got hit in the face as he threw an incomplete pass to Tanner Hudson, and then there might have been defensive holding against a Raven who held on to Mike Gesicki before the pass.

 

No flags. The Bengals lost 35-34. And Al Michaels rightfully ripped officials after what he saw.

 

"Too many games end this way," he said. "You miss calls, the whole thing, it's so frustrating."

 

It sure is.

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/al-michaels-rightfully-rips-refs-121003360.html

[KA14_HOF]

If a defender had done that to Mahomes, he'd be doing 15-to-life on Rikers.

[LostInDaJungle]

They only missed 6 penalties on 4 players on the last play....
 

Defensive holding against Gesiki

Pass interference against Hudson

Facemask on Burrow

Roughing the passer on Burrow

Illegal hands to the face on Volson

Defensive holding on Karras

[|BlackJesus|]

RG3 ...

 

[|BlackJesus|]

3 missed facemasks in one image on the last play ...

 

[Dautcom08]

That picture makes me want to puke.

[UncleEarl]

On a two-point conversion that could decide the game, why not cheat?  If they call it, which is rare unless you're KC, its just a replay.  Hell, hold, facemask, trip to your heart's content!  The consequences are minimal and the potential benefit is...well, we saw what it was.

[LostInDaJungle]

14 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

On a two-point conversion that could decide the game, why not cheat?  If they call it, which is rare unless you're KC, its just a replay.  Hell, hold, facemask, trip to your heart's content!  The consequences are minimal and the potential benefit is...well, we saw what it was.

Well, on any play the Offense could convert and then decline the penalty. So, as long as the fouls get called, you're giving the other team the opportunity to keep trying.

[|High School Harry|]

If I recall correctly... The Chiefs and both Rats games were determined

by the refs.

Tends to make one become uninterested if the games and road to the playoffs

is predetermined.

Reminds me of going to the Cincinnati Gardens (rip) and everyone in the crowd could

see The Sheik trying to bite some fool's eye out but the ref.

[|High School Harry|]

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2024/11/08/skip-bayless-shreds-nfl-refs-afraid-flag-ravens-vs-bengals/

 

Skip Bayless shreds NFL refs for being afraid to flag Ravens vs. Bengals

 

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took a beating during Thursday night’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Burrow took multiple unflagged late hits and in the fourth quarter, had two infractions involving his facemask simply not called. One of those happened on the game-deciding two-point attempt that failed.

Onlookers are livid, with Skip Bayless actually leading the way by saying the NFL ruined one of the best games he’s ever seen.

“How can you let Baltimore, in Baltimore, get away with hitting Joe Burrow in the head twice on the last drive?” Bayless said. “One grab of the facemask. One smash to the facemask and you don’t call that? That’s just choking. That’s just the refs afraid to reach for the yellow in the Ravens stadium because they’re afraid of the Ravens fans.”

Usually, reactions like these about officiating fall into hyperbole and are easily dismissed. But when the official broadcast of the game is calling out the missed flags — and noting it has been a problem all year — it’s hard to handwave away.

The Bengals missed plenty of opportunities to put Thursday night’s game away and move to 5-5. Instead, they’re 4-6 after blowing a big lead. But yes, it would be nice if all-time classics like Thursday night — and any game, for that matter — weren’t marred by strange officiating hiccups so consistently.

 

 

[UncleEarl]

36 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Well, on any play the Offense could convert and then decline the penalty. So, as long as the fouls get called, you're giving the other team the opportunity to keep trying.

 

True, but if you're cheating you figure you have a better chance of stopping the play.

[Shebengal]

I know Zac Taylor is all nicey-nice and diplomatic in the press conferences after the game, but just once, I would like him to rip into the refereeing. I know he would get fined for it, and if management had any sense, they would happily pay his fine for it.

[Dautcom08]

11 minutes ago, Shebengal said:

I know Zac Taylor is all nicey-nice and diplomatic in the press conferences after the game, but just once, I would like him to rip into the refereeing. I know he would get fined for it, and if management had any sense, they would happily pay his fine for it.

 

I had a similar thought but with Burrow to just actually put the refs and the entire NFL HQ on blast about it ending with a "I can write whatever check you need on the fine Roger"

[Homer_Rice]

1 hour ago, High School Harry said:

If I recall correctly... The Chiefs and both Rats games were determined

by the refs.

Tends to make one become uninterested if the games and road to the playoffs

is predetermined.

Reminds me of going to the Cincinnati Gardens (rip) and everyone in the crowd could

see The Sheik trying to bite some fool's eye out but the ref.

I loved me some Bobo Brazil and Flying Fred Curry when I was a kid!

 

I'm not going to stop watching the team. They are exciting as hell. But I have kind of resigned myself to thinking that this is gonna be a year of "almost, but not quite." For a whole variety of reasons.

[|BlackJesus|]

At some point the NFL will be closer to the WWE than a sporting event. 

 

The crazy thing is that billions are being bet on a thing with no integrity in how it operates. 

[IKOTA]

14 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

At some point the NFL will be closer to the WWE than a sporting event. 

 

The crazy thing is that billions are being bet on a thing with no integrity in how it operates. 

As long as people keep watching, there’s no incentive to change. Multi billion dollar corporations don’t change because of feelings. It’s all about bottom line for them. 

[spicoli]

Won’t embed…

 

https://x.com/_mlfootball/status/1854747778468991137?s=46&t=A2MK5Ppiw9QCx_18MB67ng

[Dautcom08]

Anyone else get the feeling this will be another one of those "we'll change the rule after it happens to the Bengals" and now they'll have an official looking for these types of things to buzz down on in critical moments?

[Shebengal]

1 hour ago, Dautcom08 said:

 

I had a similar thought but with Burrow to just actually put the refs and the entire NFL HQ on blast about it ending with a "I can write whatever check you need on the fine Roger"

Or this. Don’t checks for fines go to charity anyway?

[Le Tigre]

52 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

At some point the NFL will be closer to the WWE than a sporting event. 

 

The crazy thing is that billions are being bet on a thing with no integrity in how it operates. 

It’s not even at “some point”…it’s already there, and has been for more than a few years. 
 

And the gambling makes no never mind to the high-rollers. It’s the hapless schmucks on Bet Fred and Fan Duel—who still think it’s real—who are being rolled by the league. 

[UncleEarl]

1 hour ago, Le Tigre said:

It’s not even at “some point”…it’s already there, and has been for more than a few years. 
 

And the gambling makes no never mind to the high-rollers. It’s the hapless schmucks on Bet Fred and Fan Duel—who still think it’s real—who are being rolled by the league. 

Twenty-something males bet like it’s breathing.  Guys who really don’t have the extra income to do it. I think Covid and the legalization of sports books were a perfect storm.  Suckers. 

[claptonrocks]

3 hours ago, Shebengal said:

I know Zac Taylor is all nicey-nice and diplomatic in the press conferences after the game, but just once, I would like him to rip into the refereeing. I know he would get fined for it, and if management had any sense, they would happily pay his fine for it.

Pay his fine?

No way...there's Luminas to be bought.

But yeah I agree..

[PatternMaster]

Why are the Bengals always on the bad end of bad calls, when are they ever going to win game because officiating made a bank error in their favor.