NFL insider blasts missed penalty on key Bengals-Chiefs play
The final seconds of Sunday's AFC Championship Game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will largely be remembered for a correctly-called penalty but also for one that was ignored.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio pointed out that Chiefs offensive tackle Orlando Brown "clearly held" Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson before Cincinnati's Joseph Ossai made unnecessary contact with Patrick Mahomes after Mahomes had both feet out of bounds with under 10 seconds remaining in regulation and the scored tied 20-20:
USA Today NFL editor Doug Farrar and Kevin Harrish of The Comeback are also among those who mentioned Brown should've been flagged for holding, which would have resulted in offsetting penalties, a replayed down, and probably overtime for what was already a classic postseason showdown:
Instead, Harrison Butker made a 45-yard field goal that ultimately sent the Chiefs to Super Bowl LVII, where they will meet the Philadelphia Eagles.
Florio suggested something other than "gross incompetence" allowed Brown to go unpenalized on what became the game's most important offensive play.
"Between consistent failures to call holding and a rash of tackles starting into their pass-block set a split second before the snap without being called for illegal procedure, officials are making it easier for quarterbacks to operate by balancing out the simple fact that, currently, defensive linemen are bigger, faster, and/or stronger than the men trying to stop them from hitting the quarterback," Florio wrote.
Cleveland Browns All-Pro pass-rusher Myles Garrett, Los Angeles Chargers star Joey Bosa, and New York Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux are just a few noteworthy defensive players who complained about a lack of holding calls during this season. San Francisco 49ers defensive end Arik Armstead essentially passed on attempting to tackle Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott for a safety in the divisional round of the playoffs over fears that he could receive a 15-yard penalty late in a must-win game.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, one of the league's most outspoken personalities, made it clear in October that he is in favor of strict roughing the passer rules that protect signal-callers who happen to be on big-money contracts. NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said around that same time the league is "not going to back off of protecting the quarterback."
"In addition to calling ticky-tack roughing penalties when quarterbacks get hit, the officials are looking the other way far too often on tactics that help keep quarterbacks from getting hit," Florio added on Monday.
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