By popular demand, we’re again going to have a post after each game that breaks down some of the controversial decisions from the officiating crew in the game.
Penalty Count
Bengals 2-15 (leading to one Jets first down)
Jets 4-25 (leading to one Bengals first down)
Note: This does not include penalties that are declined or off-set.
Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage
Jets Penalties
- Quinnen Williams jumped early, trying to guess the snap count.
- Mason Taylor false start. Went a beat earlier than the snap.
- Breece Hall false start. Just an almost imperceptible flinch but well-spotted by the official.
Bengals Penalties
- Holding on Dylan Fairchild. Took Williams down to the ground.
- Illegal contact on Cam Taylor-Britt. Reached across Allen Lazard’s neck well down the field with the ball still in Justin Fields’ hands.
Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation
Jets Penalties
- Qwan’tez Stiggers holding on a punt. This happened off-screen but it looked like Andrew Beck could also have been called for a hold and there was also an uncalled block in the back on the same play.
Bengals Penalties
- Taylor-Britt illegal contact again. On this one, Taylor-Britt was complaining that Lazard ran into him, initiating the contact. This is true, but then Taylor-Britt wrapped his arm around him so that was an obvious flag.
Notable no-calls etc
Here were some of the other notable missed calls, replay situations and controversial moments:
- Ted Karras got away with an obvious hold on Payton Page to set up a big run on the first drive.
- Stiggers could have drawn a flag for an illegal block in the back on one kickoff
- Ja’Marr Chase was ruled short of the marker but the replay booth overturned this. It was a clean catch and the hit was with the ball a good half yard beyond the marker
- Taylor arguably got away with an illegal shift in the red zone
- Demetrius Knight’s hit on Taylor as he tried to make a leaping catch was perfectly timed so no flag was correct
- Taylor could have drawn a flag for illegal hands to the face as he was blocking outside on one play
- On consecutive plays in the red zone there was a lot of contact on Arian Smith and Breece Hall, as each went to the ground, but on each throw the ball was way off target and maybe even thrown away so that would qualify as uncatchable. Had Fields fired it in that direction, either one could have been defensive pass interference
- Azareye’h Thomas’ near-interception was obviously not going to count because he dived from out of bounds. You’d need to jump back in bounds with both feet down before touching the ball again for it to count. In any case, the nose of the ball hit the turf and it wiggled slightly, so the catch may not have stood anyway
- Chase Brown clearly broke the plane on his touchdown run
- Hall was definitely inbounds as he tight-roped the sideline on his touchdown run…but Allen Lazard was very lucky not to be called for a block in the back that would have negated it
- The Davis catch on the two-point conversion wasn’t clear if it hit the ground or if he had control with the ball breaking the plane. He probably didn’t have full control until he landed with the ball, at which point it was very close as to where the ball was. However, from the point he first contacted the ball, he didn’t really juggle it so the ruling was presumably that he started to gain control as he was falling
- Hall and Fields both got awarded first downs on the last drive on close plays but they appeared to have reached the marker each time.
Let us know what we missed – or misinterpreted – in the comments…