Longtime NFL play-by-play commentator Al Michaels spoke for millions of NFL fans Thursday night when not one, but two penalties against the Ravens were called on the Bengals' two-point shot. He blamed NFL officials and, by extension, the league. A converted try would have won them the game.
Cincinnati attacked the field and star receiver Ja'Marr Chase caught his 11th pass and third touchdown to make the score 35-34 with just seconds left in regulation time. Head coach Zac Taylor opted to score two points and seal the win rather than score the extra point and force overtime, which would be relatively easy.
However, as the play unfolded, Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki was grabbed and dragged to the ground by a Ravens defender, and Burrow himself put his hands on his face after terminating the penalty.
Neither violation was called, the pass was incomplete, and the Ravens held on for a 35-34 victory.
“It was clearly a defensive hold…and it looks like there was forced contact to the quarterback's head,” said Prime Video replay manager Terry McCauley.
“Too many matches end like this,” Michaels complained. “They just do that. Missed calls. Everything. It's very frustrating for the fans. It's very frustrating.”
On Prime Video's postgame show, former NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick pointed out that neither penalty affected Burrow's erroneous throw, which would have been an incomplete sail anyway. Burrow never turned to his left where Gesecki was held, and the forced contact to the head occurred after the ball had already been released.
Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez pointed out that it was still a penalty, as written in the rulebook, and should have been called.
Actually, both are correct.
A penalty should have been called, neither of which affected the play. Of course, if they had been called, the Bengals would have had another chance to score a two-point try and win the game.
However, Michaels points out that miscalls on critical game-ending plays are commonplace in the NFL. Vikings fans know this all too well from QB Sam Darnold's face mask, which was not called for Thursday night's game against the Rams.
Similarly, the referees could have easily called the managers on Jaden Daniels' miraculous game-winning Hail Mary pass against the Bears.
So the issue here isn't any particular bias toward offense or defense or any particular team (though it's interesting to see that the Chiefs never seem to have these decisions in the wrong direction).
The problem is that, for whatever reason, referees who might be fine with throwing flags in bulk at other points in the game decide to swallow them on the final play.
It's basically a consistency issue.
However, fans who want the final play to play out just like the rest of the game should be careful what they wish for. There's a certain beauty in having players make plays in critical moments. Changing it could still result in a team going the wrong way with an officiating decision that otherwise wouldn't have been called.
