During the first half, a whistle was blown by a referee who had thought Joe Burrow stepped out of bounds before throwing a touchdown; however, after review, they ruled him inbounds and determined the play to result in a touchdown.
Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images
Many felt the play should've been ruled dead after the whistle, despite it being incorrectly called.
One league source told ESPN that they weren't surprised by the crew's performance, led by referee Jerome Boger.
NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson explained the call after the game, saying that the whistle came after the touchdown: "We confirmed with the referee and the crew that on that play -- they got together and talked -- they determined that they had a whistle, but that the whistle for them on the field was blown after the receiver caught the ball."
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby explained what was going through the team's mind as the play happened after the game: "In the moment, we didn't know because we heard a whistle. The ref said he was out, and then they said it was a touchdown -- and then there was no review. So we were just like, 'All right,' so we just kept going. We had our opportunities. We just didn't capitalize."
The Bengals went on to beat the Raiders 26-19.
About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.
