The NFL announced during the offseason that an increased emphasis would be placed on penalizing taunting this year, and that was clearly more than just a warning.
Fans were left frustrated on Sunday by taunting penalties in both the Bengals-Bears and Bills-Dolphins games. The first was called on Chicago safety Tashaun Gipson after he broke up a pass on 3rd down. Gipson was flagged for standing over Ja’Marr Chase and clapping.
Then, a short while later, the same happened to Dolphins cornerback Levi Wallace.
Were both players guilty of taunting? Yes. The issue is that most fans want the NFL to allow some level of taunting. Very few people seem to be in favor of the league’s new zero-tolerance taunting approach.
We saw a few ridiculous taunting penalties during exhibition games, and the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. The NFL obviously doesn’t care.
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