The Cincinnati Bengals' Wild Card showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders was riddled with a little bit of controversy early on, thanks to some embarrassing mistakes by the NFL referees.
With the 2021 NFL season now in the playoffs, fans and players alike expect a higher level of officiating. After all, one mistake could spell doom for one team. However, that wasn't the case in the Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati where the Bengals benefited from an erroneous whistle and the Raiders falling victim to it.
Late in the second quarter, Burrow scrambled to the sideline looking for an open man to throw the touchdown. He was able to release the ball before he stepped out of bounds, but the referee blew the whistle while the ball was mid-air and before it reached Tyler Boyd.
JOE BURR-WOW. #RuleTheJungle#SuperWildCard @JoeyB
šŗ: #LVvsCIN on NBC
š±: NFL app pic.twitter.com/1U4Gq33J61ā NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2022
Sure enough, there shouldn't have been a whistle in the first place since Burrow was not out of bounds, and that was what the officials ruled as they gave the Bengals the touchdown to extend their lead 20-6.
However, what many failed to notice was the fact that the referees shocking brushed off the event like it was nothing. If you look at the replay, it was clear the Raiders' defense stopped upon hearing the whistleāwhich made the touchdown way easier for Burrow and Cincinnati.
Not to mention that based on the NFL rules, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network highlighted, āwhen an official sounds his whistle erroneously while the ball is still in play, the ball becomes dead immediately.ā
Pelissero furthered: āIf the ball is a loose ball resulting from a legal forward pass, a free kick, a fair-catch kick, or a scrimmage kick, the ball is returned to the previous spot, and the down is replayed.ā
By the looks of it, it was undoubtedly an unfair turn for the Raiders. It is hard to blame the Bengals, too, since they are also victims of what was simply bad officiating.
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