- The Bengals fell to 4-6 after an unsuccessful two-point attempt late in the game
The Ravens beat the Bengals in dramatic fashion on Thursday night, but an ex-NFL referee accused officials of missing two calls on Cincinnati’s last offensive play.
After a Ja’Marr Chase touchdown catch with 38 seconds left brought the Bengals within one point of their opponents, the visitors opted to go for two – but a do-or-die pass attempt to tight end Tanner Hudson fell incomplete.
Upon seeing a replay of the sequence, however, Amazon Prime Video’s rules analyst Terry McAulay indicated that the Bengals should have had another chance to win the game.
‘It was clearly defensive holding…and that does look like forcible contact to the head of [Burrow],’ he said.
During the play, the Ravens’ Roquan Smith made contact with Burrow’s facemask, while the quarterback’s intended target Hudson was wrapped up by Ar’Darius Washington before the ball got to him.
Joe Burrow was hit in the facemask on the deciding play of the game on Thursday
Tight end Tanner Hudson was also held by Ar’Darius Washington with the ball still in the air
Prime Video’s Al Michaels shared McAulay’s view of the play.
‘Too many games end this way. They just do,’ Michaels said.
‘You miss calls, the whole thing – it’s so frustrating for fans.’
Ultimately, the Bengals lost 35-34 after a failed onside kick, and fans were also upset about the pair of no-calls.
‘The NFL is too big to have this level of incompetence,’ one said on X.
Burrow racked up 428 passing yards and four touchdowns but the Bengals still lost
‘It’s the old stupid a** logic of referees not wanting to decide the game, but by not calling the penalties that really did happen, they decided the game,’ a second suggested.
‘I like the Ravens, but that blow to Burrow’s head was obvious,’ a third added.
The loss will sting for the now 4-6 Bengals, who led 21-7 in the second half and got huge offensive performances from Burrow (428 passing yards, four touchdowns) and Ja’Marr Chase (264 receiving yards, three touchdowns).
