Going by the National Football League rulebook, the 10-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bengals a 14-point lead late in the first half of their homestand against the Raiders should not have counted. An errant whistle, no doubt blown in the face of quarterback Joe Burrow appearing to be out of bounds before he heaved the football across his shoulder and into the hands of wide receiver Tyler Boyd, should have automatically led to the play being stopped. After a lengthy discussion, however, the officiating crew led by veteran Jerome Boger let the score stand — a crucial decision considering that its product was precisely the difference in the final score.
To be sure, Boyd’s pass was worthy of being included in highlight reels. He scrambled out of pocket on third and four, and as he moved to the right sideline, he somehow managed to elude a bevy of Raiders and find Boyd in the end zone with the remarkable throw. Whether the defense heard the whistle and stopped on their tracks, as was reasonable under the circumstances, is subject to speculation. What’s not: Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1(m), which states that “when an official sounds the whistle erroneously while the ball is still in play, the ball becomes dead immediately.”
For the record, the NFL did explain away the controversial call, officially declaring that the accidental whistle was blown AFTER the pass had been made. Never mind that the NBC broadcast clearly showed that said whistle happened BEFORE the pass. It also bears noting that the clarification was made long after the outcome of the wild card game had already been decided — as if the front office scrambled to find a reason to justify the ruling. Nothing could have changed the result, anyway, so some candor would have been better appreciated.
In any case, the Bengals emerged with their first playoff victory in 31 years, hitherto the longest drought in the league by far. If nothing else, they did work for the win, producing six scoring drives and stifling the Raiders’ own efforts to put up more points on the board. Meanwhile, the Raiders will need to keep looking for that elusive first postseason win since 2002. Perhaps, next time, the search won’t be bogged down by trigger-happy referees; 14 accepted penalties, and in a playoff outing to boot, seem too many for comfort.
Don’t tell that to the Bengals, though. They’ve had more than their fair share of heartbreaks, and they can’t be faulted for relishing the way Lady Luck smiled their way for once. “Today was significant for a lot of people,” coach Zac Taylor noted in the aftermath. Talk about an understatement.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
