Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens spent Thursday night setting records, but it was the officials who took the headlines.
Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow showcased their MVP potentials, Ja’Marr Chase underlined his legitimate credentials as the best non-quarterback in the league and Thursday Night Football delivered a classic.
However, on the final play of the game, with Burrow and the Bengals already good for a touchdown to close to within one point at 35-34, fans and broadcasters were left frustrated.
A thrilling back and forth contest had already seen both teams dazzle in an offensive spectacular, but in the dying moments Burrow found Chase for a five-yard TD with 38 seconds left to go.
Rather than take the one point on offer to level the game, John Harbaugh went for the two-point conversion and a win that the Bengals probably needed to keep their season alive.
They came up short.
Burrow’s pass was headed for it’s intended target, but Andrei Iosivas was held up short of the line.
Replays suggested Burrow was the subject of a face mask penalty – an infringement that would have halved the deficit to the goal-line and given Cincinnati a second chance.
Instead, the call was missed. And perhaps more surprisingly was not reviewed, leaving the Bengals beaten by a point – just three weeks after an agonizing overtime defeat to the same opponents.
It left Amazon Prime commentator Al Michael furious
“Too many games end this way,” he said on the Thursday Night Football broadcast.
“They just do. You miss calls. The whole thing. So frustrating for the fans. So frustrating.”
The drama overshadowed a thrilling game to start Week 10 as both teams showed why, on their day, their are Super Bowl contenders.
Jackson – who improves to 10-1 versus the Bengals – ended with 290 yards, four touchdowns, no sacks or interceptions and a passer rating of 144.4 to further enhance his MVP credentials.
Per NFL Research, Jackson now has a passer rating of 123.2 for the season – the highest in NFL history, surpassing the 122,5 by Aaron Rodgers in his 2011 MP season
Burrow also had four touchdowns and a remarkable 428 yards just five weeks on from 392 yards and 5 TDs yards in the 41-38 home defeat to the same opponents.
Ultimately those two game have yielded two defeats to leave the teams in very different positions in their post season chase.
It’s now seven wins from their last eight games for the Ravens who are 7-3 and well placed in the AFC, while Burrow and the Bengals slip to 4-6 and are three games back in the AFC North.
Fans were equally furious on a call, and a result that could spell the end for the Bengals postseason hopes.
“They gotta be able to call down and fix objective calls like face mask or false start. I get defensive holding not being reviewable cause it can be subjective,” one fan posted to X in response to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
On fan went one step further: “If the NFL wants to take another idea from UFL, Dean Blandino watches every game from a control room and he can buzz down and make penalty calls (or overturn calls) without either team even initiating a challenge.”
A third posted: “He’s right. They need to hire more refs and have replay assist be able to step in far more during games when there is egregious penalties…”
The drama not only overshadowed the spectacular quarterback plan from Jackson and Burrow but also a barely believable night from Bengals receiver Chase.
He racked up an astonishing 264 yards on 11 catches and three touchdowns – becoming the first NFL player to ever record multiple game of more than 250 yards and more than 2 touchdowns.
talkSPORT is your home of the NFL on UK radio, join us on Sunday for Week 10 from 6pm on talkSPORT2 and catch up with the latest from around the league on our dedicated NFL YouTube channel.
