Refs flat-out lie about erroneous whistle in Bengals win over Raiders

An erroneous whistle blown during the Cincinnati Bengals-Las Vegas Raiders game is even worse now.

The Wild Card Round matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders was talked about extensively on Saturday. But, it was mostly due to the questionable calls made by the officiating crew. Perhaps the worst was the erroneous whistle that should have negated a Joe Burrow touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd. But, the referees let it stand.

After the game, instead of admitting the officiating crew made a mistake, senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson said that the referees in Cincinnati determined that they blew the whistle after the catch was made. The thing is, the whistle arrived before the catch.

Take a look at the full transcription between Pro Football Writers of America pool reporter Paul Dehner and Anderson, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.

Referees defend erroneous whistle call during Bengals-Raiders game

Let’s review the video footage.

According to the NFL rulebook, once the referees blow the whistle in the middle of the play, it should automatically be ruled dead. Instead, the officiating crew allowed the touchdown to stand because they thought the whistle was blown after Boyd caught the ball.

And for those of you asking, Anderson provided “Rule 15,” stating that erroneous whistles are non-reviewable plays. Yet, they did review the play, but to see if Burrow stepped out of bounds before throwing the ball and that Boyd was in bounds when receiving the pass. Neither Burrow or Boyd stepped out of bounds on that play.

Raiders fans had to be livid about this decision, because they lost the Wild Card game by a touchdown. Although they did have a chance to tie the game on their final drive, where they reached the red zone. However, quarterback Derek Carr threw an interception on fourth-and-goal to end the game.

So there you have it. If you wonder why the referees thought the play should have stood as called, it was because they thought the whistle was blown after Boyd caught Burrow’s pass in the back of the end zone.