Al Michaels Ripped NFL's Officiating After Controversial Ending In Bengals-Ravens Game
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A thrilling Thursday Night Football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens saw Baltimore come out on top, 35-34, after a failed two-point conversion from the Bengals. But some spotty officiating at the end of the game really got under play-by-play man Al Michaels' skin.
The game-deciding play was the two-point conversion attempt. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw the ball to Tanner Hudson, but the play was stopped short of the goalline. However, video review showed that there were not one, but two missed penalties on the game - a roughing the passer call and a defensive holding call. Amazon Prime Video rules analyst Terry McAulay said that it was "clearly" a penalty play that should have been redone.
Michaels got frustrated when McAulay said that, stating that he feels too many NFL games tend to end with missed calls like that.
"Too many games end this way. They just do," Michaels said.
Terry McAulay felt the Ravens got away with 2 penalties on the game-deciding 2-point attempt.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 8, 2024
"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
NFL fans have always had the referees and officials in their crosshairs, and Michaels' response to this latest controversy seemed to have everyone heated:
"It's the old stupid logic of referees not wanting to decide the game, but by not calling the penalties that really did happen, they decided the game. NFL just asks for trouble with this utter garbage," one user remarked.
"The NFL is too big to have this level of incompetence," another wrote.
"Rules for some, not for others. Makes the league inconsistently bad with obvious penalties not enforced. Al and Terry's honesty about it was good to hear," wrote a third.
In an age where the NFL is now deeply embedded in sports betting - promoting and partnering with every single sports book under the sun - the league really should be doing a lot more to ensure that every single call is the correct one every single time. If they don't then they might as well start removing some rules that are prone to being subjective.
There's really not many other solutions.
Related: NFL Referees Missed 2 Blatant Penalties On Final Play Of Bengals-Ravens Game
