Joe Burrow’s second touchdown pass of the game in the Bengals’ wild-card matchup vs. Raiders came with some help from his mobility in the pocket—and perhaps a little from an official’s rogue whistle.
As Burrow scrambled toward the sideline with Cincinnati driving late in the second quarter, he released the ball just before stepping out of bounds. Just before the pass reached Tyler Boyd in the end zone, a whistle could be heard on the broadcast, which caused some confusion for NBC’s broadcast team of Mike Tirico and Drew Brees.
Rule 7, Section 2(m) of the NFL’s rulebook states that, “When an official sounds his whistle erroneously while the ball is still in play, the ball becomes dead immediately,” per the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.