It’s been an entertaining first half between the Bengals and Titans, with Cincinnati building a 24-14 lead at halftime.
A big man has rumbled off of a fumble recovery with a stiff arm, a defensive player has gotten a touchdown, Will Levis has committed multiple turnovers, and Joe Burrow has set a new single-season franchise record for touchdown passes.
Burrow completed 20-of-27 passes for 216 yards with three touchdowns with an interception and a lost fumble. Burrow now has 36 touchdown passes, which eclipses his previous single-season franchise record of 35 from 2022.
Burrow’s second touchdown went to defensive end Sam Hubbard, who recorded the first reception and touchdown of his career. But it was a costly play for Hubbard, as he suffered a knee injury on the catch and was ruled out.
Cincinnati ended the first half with 258 yards, 14 first downs, and 7-of-8 on third down. Ja’Marr Chase has six catches for 79 yards while Tee Higgins caught four passes for 65 yards with a 38-yard touchdown late in the second period.
On the other side, the Titans scored first with Tony Pollard’s 3-yard run — capitalizing off a Burrow interception. The club then scored in Tyjae Spears’ 1-yard run late in the first quarter.
Defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat picked up a Burrow fumble and stiff-armed an offensive player for one of the more exciting plays of the first half.
But Levis has again struggled, finishing the first half 7-of-10 for 86 yards with two interceptions and a lost fumble.
Tennessee will receive the second-half kickoff.
The NFL has embraced replay assist in recent years. It will soon be embracing it even more.
Appearing Sunday on NFL Network, NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson acknowledged that the (latest) missed facemask foul from Monday night’s Bengals-Cowboys game. After explaining how and why the referee and umpire (who are both behind the quarterback) can not see it happen, Anderson acknowledged that the league will be expanding replay assist even more.
“What we’re gonna end up doing is taking a look at a lot of plays,” Anderson said. “What are some of the things that real quickly we can help the officials with seeing, because we’ve first got to be able to determine is it for sure a clear and obvious foul? Which this is. This is a clear and obvious facemask foul penalty that we missed.”
The vow to use replay in the future is good. Not waiting this long to do it would have been better.
Anderson’s admission made the league’s decision not to fine Cowboys linebacker Marist Liufau for the grabbing and pulling of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s facemask even more strange. If the goal in not fining Liufau was to not bring extra attention to the blown call, that went out the window when Anderson said what he said on Sunday.
We’ll say one last thing. The two critical words are “clear” and “obvious.” The people (whoever they are, which is part of the problem) who are in charge of replay assist need to always remember the standard for changing the ruling on the field. It’s not a fresh look; the ruling on the field deserves a significant amount of deference.
That’s important because, frankly, on Monday night that was ignored. The catch and fumble by Bengals receiver Andrei Iosivas was overturned to an incompletion by replay assist, without (in our view) clear and obvious evidence.
So, yes, it’s good the NFL will be using replay assist more and more. But it still needs to be used properly — unless and until the NFL decides to put a member of the officiating crew in a video booth and have that official behave like a full-fledged member of the crew.
Every week we bring you all the inactives from the 1 p.m. ET games in one post, constantly updated with the latest information.
The Chiefs won’t have to contend with Browns tight end David Njoku on Sunday.
Njoku was listed as questionable to play because of a hamstring injury and the team made him inactive 90 minutes ahead of kickoff in Cleveland. Njoku has missed three other games this season and has 56 catches in the 10 games he has played.
The Browns also made kicker Dustin Hopkins inactive. Riley Patterson will handle their kicking duties.
Chiefs at Browns
Chiefs: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, T D.J. Humphries, T Ethan Driskell, OL C.J. Hanson, DE Joshua Uche, DT Marlon Tuipulotu, DE Malik Herring
Browns: K Dustin Hopkins, TE David Njoku, QB Bailey Zappe, RB D’Onta Foreman, CB Chigozie Anusiem and DE James Houston
Jets at Jaguars
Jets: CB D.J. Reed, WR Malachi Corley, S Jaylin Simpson, CB Brandin Echols, OL Xavier Newman, TE Tyler Conklin, DL Braiden McGregor
Jaguars: RB D’Ernest Johnson, DE Myles Cole, OL Javon Foster, DT Esezi Otomewo, DT Jordan Jefferson
Ravens at Giants
Ravens: S Marcus Williams, RB Keaton Mitchell, S Sanoussi Kane, LB Adisa Isaac C Nick Samac
Giants: CB Deonte Banks, CB Dru Phillips, CB Cor’Dale Flott, LB Bobby Okereke, DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches, QB Drew Lock
Cowboys at Panthers
Cowboys: CB Trevon Diggs, S Juanyeh Thomas, RB Deuce Vaughn, C Cooper Beebe, WR Ryan Flournoy, DE Tyrus Wheat
Panthers: RB Raheem Blackshear, S Nick Scott, CB Shemar Bartholomew, CB Akayleb Evans, LB Trevin Wallace, OL Jarrett Kingston, DT Sam Roberts
Commanders at Saints
Commanders: WR K.J. Osborn, QB Jeff Driskel, CB Michael Davis, LB Dominique Hampton, K Zane Gonzalez, C Tyler Biadasz, DT Phidarian Mathis
Saints: QB Derek Carr, RB Jordan Mims, WR Mason Tipton, DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, DT Khristian Boyd
Bengals at Titans
Bengals: QB Logan Woodside, WR Charlie Jones, OL Cody Ford, OT Orlando Brown Jr., TE Tanner McLachlan, DT Sheldon Rankins
Titans: LB Jerome Baker, WR Jha’Quan Jackson, CB Roger McCreary, CB Tre Avery, RB Joshua Kelley, LB Otis Reese
Dolphins at Texans
Dolphins: T Terron Armstead, CB Ethan Bonner, WR Dee Eskridge, DL Neil Farrell, OL Kendall Lamm, TE Jack Stoll, RB Jeff Wilson
Texans: TE Cade Stover, WR Steven Sims, OL Juice Scruggs, DE Jerry Hughes, DT Kurt Hinish
The Bengals were furious on Monday night when Cowboys linebacker Marist Liufau didn’t draw a flag for grabbing the facemask of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and pulling him to the ground. The call was obvious, and it was hard to believe the officials on the field missed it.
It’s also hard to believe the NFL’s disciplinary department didn’t consider it worthy of a fine.
Liufau was not fined for the play, a major surprise given how blatant the facemask was. The NFL routinely fines players for facemasking (four players were fined for facemasking in Week 14), but for some reason let Liufau off the hook.
The uncalled facemasking against the Cowboys was particularly painful to the Bengals because it happened on a third-down sack. It should have given the Bengals a first down; instead the Bengals had to punt.
As NFL officials have repeatedly missed facemasking penalties this season, there’s been growing sentiment for making facemasking reviewable in replay. But the NFL’s disciplinary process had all the time and all the replay angles it needed to review the play, and still saw nothing worth fining Liufau for.
It’s rarely called during a game. It’s routinely the subject of league-imposed fines.
More than six years ago, the NFL outlawed the lowering of the helmet to initiate forcible contact with an opponent. Over the years, many players have been fined and/or warned after the fact, even if a flag is almost never thrown during a game. And, unlike a facemask foul not spotted in real time, hardly anyone even notices when a violation occurs.
For Week 14, a pair of running backs received fines of $45,020 for the use of the helmet — Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco and Buccaneers running back Rachaad White.
Three other players were fined for the same infraction in Week 14: Bengals safety Geno Stone ($22,511), Chiefs guard Trey Smith ($18,881), and Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster ($6,722).
That’s three Chiefs players in all, with total fines in excess of $70,000.
The league added the rule in order to make the game safer, both for the player using the helmet and the player struck by it. Still, the technique remains in the game. In the end, it’s essentially a device for taking money out of the pockets of players who play football instinctively.
Maybe some players manage in the heat of the battle to not yield to those instincts. Maybe it happens less than it used to. Regardless, it’s hard to imagine the technique ever being eradicated from the game — unless and until football is played without helmets.
