Yahoo! Agrees That It Was A Blown Call

[BFritz21]

I received backlash for saying that the helmet-to-helmet hit was a bad call because Hilton was going at Johnson low and then Johnson lowered his head to initiate the helmet-to-helmet, and Yahoo! agrees with me:

Quote:Yahoo Sports
NFL can't allow blown call on Bengals-Jets helmet collision to happen
Jason Owens
Jason Owens
Sun, October 31, 2021, 8:37 PM
Officials at Sunday's New York Jets-Cincinnati Bengals game had their hearts in the right place.

Their heads? They appeared to be elsewhere.


A blatant error in the name of player safety cost the Bengals a rightful chance at a final possession in their 34-31 loss to the Jets. With 2:00 remaining, Jets quarterback Mike White looked to running back Ty Johnson in the flat on a third-and-11 play from the New York 21-yard line. The play never stood a chance.

Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton sniffed it out and tackled Johnson for a 1-yard loss. The play should have resulted in the Jets facing fourth-and-12 from the New York 20-yard line with around 1:50 remaining and the Bengals holding three timeouts — more than enough time for an offense featuring the Joe Burrow-Ja'Marr Chase connection to score a game-tying field goal or a go-ahead touchdown.

Would-be Bengals stop ends up a Jets first down

But they never got the chance. A yellow flag nullified the stop and awarded the Jets a first down. They capitalized by running out the clock to secure the upset and victory for White in his debut as an NFL starter.

Oct 31, 2021; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton (21) is penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit on New York Jets running back Ty Johnson (25) in the fourth quarter during a Week 8 NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Player safety should be paramount. So should getting calls right when brain health is at risk. (Vincent Carchietta/Reuters)
Flag was right, but wrong player was punished

The penalty? Unnecessary roughness. Hilton and Johnson made helmet-to-helmet contact on the tackle, and line judge Tripp Sutter flagged Hilton for the infraction, setting the Jets up with first down at their own 35-yard line.

Sutter was right to throw a flag. The helmet-to-helmet collision is the exact kind of brain-damage inducing violence the NFL is desperately attempting to legislate out of the game. He just penalized the wrong player.

Replay clearly shows Hilton lowering his body to attempt a legal tackle targeting Johnson's thigh pads. Johnson — at the very last moment — lowered his head, which initiated the helmet-to-helmet collision that put the health of both players at risk.

Like I said, we had momentum and we at least had a very good shot to tie the game, if not win it, and the penalty should have been on them, which would have set us up even better.

This one bullshit call could have season-altering ramifications.

That's our luck............