During his team’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers over the weekend, Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell got hit with a taunting penalty on a critical third down.
Bell, after helping put an end to the 49ers’ drive, pointed at a 49ers player and instantly earned a flag.
It looked relatively harmless in real time, but officials thought it was enough to throw a flag, which extended San Francisco’s drive and ultimately resulted in points.
So what did Bell say? Per defensive tackle D.J. Reader himself, all Bell said was “You almost hit me.”
On one hand, Bell has to know better than to point at another player. Those are the (ridiculously silly) rules. He’s already had one similar taunting flag cost his team this year.
On the other, this is the problem with these rules. It’s subjective down to the individual official who, in this case, wasn’t even close enough to see what Bell said. And there were several instances of 49ers players “taunting” later in the game that should have earned flags if the crew called things consistently.
Either way, there’s not much anyone can do about the silly taunting emphasis until the offseason. Bengals players will just have to keep in mind how fickle some officiating crews can be and nail down the NFL’s preferred behavior.
“You almost hit me” direct quote. That’s all
— Dj Reader (@Djread98) December 13, 2021
