Disagree with that. Two of the calls were bad and wrong, which is doubly annoying after they let stuff go for most of the game. And the one they got right they literally didn't call on Ramsey earlier in the game, which kept the Bengals out of the end zone.
This. The two separate games, the first 58 minutes and then the last last two minutes. (sometimes longer if the one team is down by more than a score.) I've noticed refs at both levels call the game differently in the last 2 minutes.
With 1:25 left and the Bengals with the ball, my wife proclaimed the game was over. I replied, "No way, they have 3 timeouts and the Refs are going to gift them 30 if not 45 yards." Nope refs swallowed their whistles again. On the last 2 plays I saw 3 wide receivers getting held, but no calls.
The refs missed numerous calls. Blatant, significant arms extended holding calls, pass interference calls, that ridiculous facemask no call etc. They only called 2 penalties (and one was for a non-uniformed player running onto the field) in the first 58 minutes, then make 5 calls in 35 seconds. If leaves a bad taste, right or wrong. But when they change how they are calling the game and do it wrong, if feels rigged. There was this narrative that the refs were going to let them play. Then with the game on the line, they called an offense initiated patty cake call. They called a phantom roughing penalty?!? It's frustrating.
After that rant, I do think the better team won. Congrats to St. Louis, I mean the team stolen from St. Louis. And when Cincinnati did grab the momentum in the the 3rd quarter, they couldn't get more than a 7 point lead leaving the door open for what felt like the refs to swing the outcome to the Billion Dollar Home team. Overall, it was good enough game for me to watch it till the end, which I guess is what everybody wants. I hope Cincinnati can radically improve their O-Line. Burrow is special.
