Bengals fall victim to NFL’s erratic replay review rules after critical INT

The Cincinnati Bengals had a chance to save a losing effort against the Cleveland Browns in Week 14 after William Jackson tipped a pass intended for Odell Beckham Jr. and Jessie Bates intercepted it.

NFL officials and rules intervened.

The scene? Fourth-quarter, Bengals down eight points and in great field position if the interception counts. Granted, the offense had been terrible near the goal line all day, but the point stands.

After the interception though, officials decided to review the turnover and decided Jackson committed DPI. And he did — the problem here is the precedent of this actually happening leaguewide.

Simply put, it doesn’t.

This reaction summed it up nicely:

That Bengals PI overturn, given the standard Of PI challenges weve been given this year, was the worst call of the year.

— Andrew Hawkins (@Hawk) December 8, 2019

And here:

Wow. They reviewed it for DPI. That's just wild when you consider what we've seen not overturned all year.

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) December 8, 2019

Now, Bengals coaches and players will say they shouldn’t have been in a position to need help from officials in the first place. Very true. So is the fact that, while the result stinks, it moves the team closer to the first-overall pick.

But it just seems poetic that for all the twists and turns this season took to date, including the worst start in franchise history, the run of bad luck simply wasn’t done.