Cincinnati Bengals players weren’t making any excuses after the Super Bowl LVI loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Joe Burrow was already plotting a Super Bowl return. Tyler Boyd said the obvious about officiating but didn’t suggest it was the reason for the loss.
Social media, on the other hand, went back and instantly grabbed footage of a few key moments. And upon review, it sure looks like the officiating crew missed a few critical calls that could have gone against the Rams when it mattered most.
Maybe the most notable was a pretty clear false start by the Rams offensive line in the redzone on the same play officials tagged Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson with a controversial holding penalty:
The defensive holding penalty against Cincinnati never should have happened anyway because the officials didn’t call an obvious false start on the entire offensive line. pic.twitter.com/U1itLG7RPA
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) February 14, 2022
Oh boy. This is BAD https://t.co/R8cmbZq8Df
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) February 14, 2022
3rd down they missed a false start. The entire OL moved but the Center snapped it late
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) February 14, 2022
Another came earlier in the game, which appeared to set the tone as far as the officiating crew not calling the smaller stuff:
Donald offsides on the 4th and 1. They usually give you a warning the first time, but this one, I would’ve called. Head clearly across the line pic.twitter.com/yEdVSNpQC1
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) February 13, 2022
That not calling the smaller stuff probably would’ve been just fine, had the officiating crew not reverted and threw several flags on the Rams’ final game-clinching drive.
Of course, Rams fans have plenty of reason for complaints too — Tee Higgins’ 75-yard score to start the second half featured a blatant facemask on Jalen Ramsey.
Bottom line? It’s a shame NFL officiating couldn’t get it together for the most important game of all.
