Ball don’t lie: 3 worst calls from Week 2 in the NFL
By Mark Powell
Taunting penalties have to stop
Ironically enough, the above Lamar Jackson flip into the end zone was NOT called a taunting penalty. Given the standard the NFL has set for itself, though, it probably should have been.
I’m counting this as at least two bad calls, and it probably could have more given the inconsistency across the league. Let’s take a look at ALL the bad taunting calls in one, horrendous clip.
Here are some of the taunting penalties called on Sunday. This stuff is a disaster. It has to stop. pic.twitter.com/DFC1VtZHe6
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 20, 2021
Sweet Jesus, why are we watching this sport?
My least favorite of the bunch, however, occurred in Seattle, and it had Pete Carroll’s blood boiling. D.J. Reed recorded a nice tackle on Titans receiver A.J. Brown and dared to celebrate as such. His said celebration wasn’t over the top by any means, but it still wasn’t received well by the officiating crew.
Fans will still tune into games, and by no means will it impact the overall audience as much as the individual viewers may think. But still, it’s incredibly frustrating and incredibly unnecessary, given so-called ‘taunting’ will actually help grow the game.
The NFL isn’t becoming the WWE. I’m not quite sure what the NFL was trying to avoid by implementing this rule in the first place, but it’s gone overboard very quickly.