If you happened to watch Saturday's AFC Wild Card Playoff game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders, you saw a controversial decision by the officials in the first half that ended with the Bengals extending their lead with a touchdown pass.
The play came in the second quarter as Bengals QB Joe Burrow rolled out to his right and fired a TD pass to Tyler Boyd.
As you can see in the video below, there was clearly a whistle blown before Boyd caught the pass, which, according to NFL rules, means the play should have been blown dead immediately. Instead, the officials allowed the play to stand, giving the Bengals a 20-6 lead (following the extra point).
Note: IMO it would have been a TD even if no whistle was blown but rules are rules.
.@JoeyB's Awareness = 100
Watch on NBC pic.twitter.com/VqDsHh3hgb
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 15, 2022
Following the game, NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson spoke to PFWA Pool Reporter Paul Dehner and Anderson said the referee and crew determined that the whistle came after the catch was made, which we all know is not remotely true.
As you can imagine, there were some fun reactions on Twitter, some of which you can see below.
The whistle was 100% blown while the pass was in the air pic.twitter.com/bffb3gp1KN
— DARIUS ALFORD (@IAMDARIUSALFORD) January 16, 2022
The story is not reviewable or not. The story is the official is not telling the truth in this explanation. I’m not a Raiders fan. But this explanation is a lie. It is a ref making something up to make them not look as bad.
— Rik Maxedon (@rikmaxedon) January 16, 2022
The official who blew the whistle knows he blew the whistle…. they chose to not follow the rule…..and he needs to come out and say I made the call wrong or right but I made the call and we chose to ignore that fact
— Russell Taylor (@SMrusstaylor) January 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/WesinNewYork/status/1482536718595198982?s=20
That doesn’t matter. The rule is the rule. Nothing else matters. Just like you get six points for a touchdown. Whistle blows, play over. No other facts matter.
— Rik Maxedon (@rikmaxedon) January 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/zDeeNice/status/1482534921428164613?s=20
https://twitter.com/ImABrewersFan/status/1482537772003086338?s=20
The refs after that game pic.twitter.com/M67ZoTZvMy
— . (@LebronEagles) January 16, 2022
