Bengals TD pass marred by controversy on erroneous whistle
What started as an impressive touchdown pass from Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow in the second quarter Saturday quickly developed into a major controversy.
Burrow threw his second touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders to receiver Tyler Boyd, giving the Bengals a 20-6 lead. He let go of the 10-yard pass just before stepping out of bounds.
However, replays showed that an official had blown his whistle before the catch was made. Per NFL rules, that should have ended the play, negating the touchdown.
NBC rules expert Terry Mcaulay said during the broadcast, “They can’t have a touchdown on that play, by rule.”
After the game, which the Bengals won 26-19, Walt Anderson, the NFL’S senior vice president of officiating, said the referees determined after a conference that the whistle was blown after Boyd had caught the ball.
“They did not feel that the whistle was blown before the receiver caught the ball,” Anderson said.
Because the ball was not in the air by the referees’ estimation when the whistle was blown — which replays contradict — the play was considered complete and was reviewed for whether Burrow or Boyd stepped out of bounds.
Anderson confirmed that an “erroneous whistle is not a reviewable play.”
Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia noted that “a lot of things went both ways” with the officials.
“I think that’s a good crew,” Bisaccia said. “I think there’s a lot of things that went on in the game both ways . ... I’ve got enough problems with my job. I can’t do the officiating, too. I didn’t really talk to them about it at that time and didn’t get an explanation.”