In the playoff game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Las Vegas Raiders there was a touchdown that should not have counted. The referees make controversial decisions, the NFL stays out of it.

Munich – It was actually a pretty impressive moment in the Wild Card Game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Less than two minutes before halftime, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow rolled towards the right sideline. Arriving just inches from it, the playmaker threw the ball ten yards to his wide receiver Tyler Boyd in the end zone. Touchdown.

But it was not and is not that simple. For what prevailed on the field was not pure joy, but one thing above all: confusion.

Burrow clear downfield on the throw

Confusion due to a too early whistle by linesman Mark Steinkerchner. The official, replays show, blew his whistle while the ball was still in the air. The referee simply wanted to indicate that Burrow was already in the sideline at the moment of his throw – which was not the case at all.

It is also clear that various Raiders players stopped because of the whistle and no longer tried to prevent Boyd from catching the pass. And not without reason. NFL rules clearly state that a play is over when a referee blows the whistle. Yet the officials ruled the pass catch a touchdown afterwards.

The decision caused controversy on the field and among fans – in which the NFL, presumably to protect its referees, did not even want to get involved. So the league stayed out of the matter and would not comment, according to Tom Pelissero of the “NFL Network”.

Touchdown irregular under rules

Instead, ex-NFL referee Terry McAulay, who works as a rules expert for the broadcasting TV station “NBC”, was given the floor. He had already made it clear during the broadcast: “The rule says there can be no touchdown on this play.”

This statement is backed up by the rulebook. “If an official incorrectly blows the whistle while the ball is in play, the ball is immediately dead,” it says.

The decision was nevertheless different, which Walt Anderson, the Senior Vice President of Officiating, explained to journalists as follows: “They (the referees, editor’s note) did not think that the whistle sounded before the receiver caught the ball.”

Therefore, the play was considered completed and only checked to see if Burrow had been out of bounds when he threw or Boyd when he caught the pass.

The referee’s whistle definitely came just before the catch and probably made no difference. Interesting that NBC officiating expert also didn’t figure out that the crew on the field was looking at the rules by a pretty wide margin -☻ pic.twitter.com/K1Wu3rHPTe

– Patrick Esume (@EsumePatrick) January 16, 2022

Raiders coach doesn’t go for call

Even though all the replays questioned the referees’ explanation, Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia wouldn’t elaborate on the incident after the narrow 19-26 loss and resulting playoff exit.

“We have to put this behind us. Next question,” he explained in an interview with “NBC”. He added: “I have enough problems with my job, I can’t take on the refereeing role as well.”

The linesman’s whistle proved to be unfortunate in two respects. Not only was the content of the whistle wrong – Burrow was clearly in the field when the pass was made – but it also resulted in what should have been an invalid touchdown.

However, the rules of the NFL do not provide for the reversal of an erroneous whistle.