Phantom Penalty Secures Victory for Bengals
Chris Stout |Sep 11,2007
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 Phantom Penalty Secures Victory for Bengals
Eight total turnovers and countless wounded players created a messy, physical contest in Cincy. The Ravens turned the ball over six times, and the Bengals were able to score 24 of their 27 points off takeaways. Yet amazingly, in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, the Ravens actually found themselves in a position to tie things up.
Then the refs decided to intervene.
Late in the fourth quarter, Todd Heap caught a touchdown pass that would have likely sent the game into overtime, but the stripes saw it differently. Somehow, while Bengals CB Dexter Jackson was grabbing a handful of his jersey, Heap was called for offensive pass interference. The phantom penalty was called at the absolute worst time. When viewed in slow motion, the offensive PI call looks even more extra-ridiculous. Heap may have gotten an arm up, but what’s he supposed to do when the dude defending him has a fist full of jersey?
The horrible penalty was so bad that the refs, in basketball-like fashion, decided to throw the Ravens a bone with a makeup call (defensive holding) on the following play.
Three plays later, Heap had a chance to reel in another potential game-tying touchdown pass from Kyle Boller, but the ball bounced off Heap’s throat and landed into the hands of diving DT Michael Myers. The botched call, Heap’s failure at redemption and Myers’ clutch play sealed the deal for Cincinnati. It also guaranteed a Week 1 victory for our resident fantasy football expert/guru/master-mastermind Steven G. Patton.
The Bengals defense certainly deserves a ton of credit, and Steve McNair’s miscues certainly warrant the goat treatment, but the erased touchdown play from the Stormin’ Mormon was disgraceful.
The Week One Injury Fest Continues
The brutality of this game went beyond the officiating. Players on both teams were dropping left and right. Ray Lewis had to get his upper arm wrapped in order to keep playing, and the injury may actually be pretty serious. Punt returner B.J. Sams was knocked out of the game (which opened the door for Ed Reed’s incredible punt return touchdown run). OT Jonathan Ogden had to leave in the second quarter. Injury magnet Steve McNair suffered a pulled groin and was unable to finish the contest.
Things weren’t all that better for the Bengals. Cincy’s O-line had three starters on the sideline at one point. Shayne Graham was out for a short period, which led to a blown extra point opportunity. Chad Johnson had a big game, but he was hobbling for a bit. T.J. Houshmandzadeh got lit up a couple times, but bounced back. DE Justin Smith went down with an injury with less than two minutes to play. It was just another painful chapter in the bloody, thrash-fest known as Week 1 of the 2007 NFL regular season.
So the Bengals got away with one. The Ravens should never have had the chance to tie the game up, so it’s only fitting that the men in orange got the victory. Still, this hard-fought game didn’t deserve to be decided by a phantom penalty. Not like this.
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