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Super Bowl referee clarifies controversial no-call on second half Bengals touchdown

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•02/14/22•

Jonathan Wagner

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Rob Carr via Getty Images.

The Cincinnati Bengals came out firing in the second half of the Super Bowl, as quarterback Joe Burrow found Tee Higgins for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. But the touchdown didn’t come without controversy.

After looking at the replay, it appears that Higgins grabbed Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s facemask with his left hand, pulling it up the field as Higgins came back up the field for the ball. It looked like a clear facemask, but no call was made and the Bengals took a 17-13 lead.

Super Bowl referee Ronald Torbert has clarified the controversial no-call on the Bengals touchdown, saying that there wasn’t the level of contact that warranted a facemask penalty.

“Our rule is that if there is a grab and twist and turn, there’s enough for a foul,” Torbert said, via Around the NFL’s Chase Goodbread. “If there’s just a rake across the facemask, where there’s not a twist and turn even if there’s a grab, there is no foul. The officials did not see any contact that rose to the level of a foul for a 15-yard facemask.”

As a follow up, Torbert was asked a clarifying question asking if there was not a twist and turn on the play by Higgins.

“Yes, that’s correct,” Torbert replied.

Former VP of Officiating Mike Pereira on the controversial Bengals touchdown

Former NFL Vice President of Officiating and current FOX Sports rules analyst chimed in on the controversial touchdown for the Bengals, saying that a penalty should have been called on the play.

“Not a good start of the second half,” he said. “The pulling of the facemask should have been interference or a face mask penalty.”

The Rams still came back to win the game. If the Rams would have lost, the controversial touchdown would be getting much more attention. Following the play, the Bengals later went up 20-13 after a 38-yard field goal by Evan McPherson. Matt Gay kicked a 41-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 20-16 late in the third quarter. With less than two minutes remaining on the clock, Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp connected on a game-clinching touchdown, securing the Super Bowl victory for the Rams.