We were bound to have some sort of officiating controversy at some point in the playoffs. But not on the very first game!
During the opening wild card battle between the Bengals and the Raiders, controversy reared its ugly head when Joe Burrow found Tyler Boyd in the back of the end zone in the first half to give Cincy the 20-6 lead. The play originally appeared to have been blown dead when officials thought Burrow had stepped out of bounds before throwing the football. However, the crew got together and determined that Burrow was still in play when he released the ball. So they ruled it a touchdown.
The problem with that, of course, is they had blown the whistle during the play — with the ball still in the air, before it was caught by Tyler Boyd.
According to the NFL rule book, that would be characterized as an erroneous whistle, in which case the officials should have replayed the down, rather than allowed the touchdown.
It was a bad call that proved to be costly, as the Raiders went on to lose the game by a touchdown, 26-19.
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Because it had such a large effect on the outcome, it’s no surprise that the NFL was forced to explain exactly what happened on the field between Jerome Boger’s officiating crew when they made the incorrect call. According to their statement, they’re claiming that the officials believed the whistle had sounded after Boyd caught the ball…even though it clearly didn’t.
NFL Senior VP of Officiating told members of the media after the game that, “[the refs] got together and talked and they determined that they had a whistle, but that the whistle for them on the field was blown after the receiver caught the ball.”
Whether the NFL wants to admit the mistake or not, it won’t change the outcome now. The Cincinnati Bengals have their first playoff win in 31 years, and the Raiders are going home with a bitter taste in their mouths after this controversial call.
