"Play to the whistle" is the cliche everyone knows.
Sometimes NFL players are asked to play past the whistle — without any late hits — just in case the officials screw up and decide on the fly to reverse a decision.
Maybe a really bad whistle on a touchdown pass by Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in an AFC wild-card playoff game didn't affect the Las Vegas Raiders' defense. But the touchdown shouldn't have counted, according to the rules. And the NFL didn't make a statement, long after the Bengals' win ended, that got it right.