The New York Jets benefitted from an extremely questionable penalty call late in their win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
It looked like the Bengals came up with the stop they needed while trailing 34-31 late in the fourth quarter. However, the Jets were awarded a first down after cornerback Michael Hilton was flagged for unnecessary roughness for his hit on Ty Johnson. The penalty stemmed from Hilton illegally lowering his head to initiate contact, supposedly.
Here’s the tackle:
Without the penalty, the Jets would have been forced to punt with two minutes left. Instead, they were awarded a first down. They picked up another first down three plays later and were able to kneel out the clock.
Hilton tried to make a low tackle, and the hit would have been perfectly clean if Johnson didn’t lower his head. The defender was not targeting the head or neck area, but that doesn’t matter anymore. If the officials determine you led with your helmet, a penalty can be called.
There’s no guarantee the Bengals would have scored even if they got the ball back. You can certainly understand if they feel cheated, however. We’ve seen some truly horrible personal fouls called this year, but the one in the Bengals-Jets game may have directly changed the outcome.
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