Tee Higgins shines in the Super Bowl with a 75-yard touchdown, but it is overshadowed by a facemask penalty that was not called. After the game, the referee explains the reasoning.

Munich – In Super Bowl 56 between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, one touchdown in particular caused a big stir.

On the first play of the third quarter, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to his wide receiver Tee Higgins. Higgins had obviously used illegal means in his duel with Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Higgins grabbed his opponent’s face and turned the defender’s head.

However, the referees did not subsequently award a penalty for either facemask or offensive pass interference.

Referee explains missing facemask call

But why? After the game, head referee Ronald Torbert commented. “The referee team did not see any contact that warranted a pass interference,” the official explained. He also explained that the referee crew also did not see a grab and twist, which would have resulted in a facemask penalty.

“Our rule is that a grab, twist and turn is sufficient for a foul. If it is just a touch on the face mask where there is no turning, there is no foul even if it is a grab. The officials didn’t see any contact that would have been a foul and a 15-yard facemask penalty.”

Replays of the scene show otherwise, with the receiver clearly turning his opponent’s head. Accordingly, nullifying the touchdown would have been the correct call.