Week 10’s Thursday Night Football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens ended controversially, something play-by-play man Al Michaels bemoaned.
A five-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Rashod Bateman gave the Ravens a 35-28 lead with just under two minutes left. The Bengals, though, quickly moved down the field and scored on a five-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase. But rather than kick the extra point to (likely) send the game into overtime, Cincinnati went for two. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful. According to rules analyst Terry McAulay, the Ravens got away with two penalties on the play.
“It was clearly defensive holding before the pass was in flight,” McAulay said. That should have been called. And that does look like forceable to the head of the quarterback. That’s roughing the passer and should have been called.”
“Ah,” Michaels groaned. After a brief pause, he resumed his thought. “Too many games end this way. They just do. You miss calls. The whole thing. It’s so frustrating to the fans. So frustrating.”
As Michaels finished his thought, Cincinnati’s final hope at a comeback went by the wayside when the Ravens recovered the onside kick.
Terry McAulay felt the Ravens got away with 2 penalties on the game-deciding 2-point attempt.
“It was clearly defensive holding…and that does look like forceable contact to the head of the quarterback,” McAulay.
“Too many games end this way. They just do,” Al Michaels. pic.twitter.com/Pl7WqjdWr6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 8, 2024
We can understand why Michaels in particular would feel this way. Two weeks ago, the Thursday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams was effectively ended when Minnesota’s Sam Darnold was sacked in the end zone for a safety. As Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit quickly noted, the Rams clearly got away with a facemask penalty on Darnold.
Of course, it must be noted that much like the Vikings against the Rams, the Bengals didn’t strictly lose because of the missed penalties Even if the penalties were called, Cincinnati still would have needed to convert on the ensuing two-point try. And of course, the Bengals also lost a game that they led 21-7 in the third quarter. But while the game’s outcome wasn’t decided on the two-point try alone, it’s hard to ignore.
If nothing else, it will make the calls for increased use of replay assist even louder.
[Photo Credit: Prime Video]
