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Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy was visibly dissatisfied with the referee
Photo:
Fred Vuich / AP
In the American football professional league NFL, the so-called taunting, the mocking of opponents, is punished particularly harshly this season.
In the 29:27 (14: 3) victory of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night against the Chicago Bears, however, a Taunting penalty caused sharp criticism.
At 11:20 pm for the Steelers, three and a half minutes before the end of the game, Chicago's linebacker Cassius Marsh knocked the Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to the ground on the third attempt. The Steelers should have popped the ball back to the Bears well in their own half. Marsh celebrated his important play before the yellow flag of a referee stopped him: Marsh is said to have mocked the Steelers, there is a 15 yard penalty, plus a new first try.
The main questions raised were the reason for the sentence.
According to the referee, Marsh is said to have cheered towards the Steelers bench, but videos only show Marsh looking towards the bank after his play.
Instead, the referee himself takes center stage: As Marsh left the field, he ran past the referee, who, clearly seeing, bumped into the player with his hip.
Only then did the referee throw the flag.
Instead of losing the ball, the Steelers shot a field goal a little later to make it 26:20, a preliminary decision.
Because although the Bears still took the lead with a touchdown, the Steelers had enough time to win with another field goal.
"Incredibly Inappropriate"
"It's sad that decisions like this get whistled in such a close match," Marsh said. “It's just tough. I don't want to say too much, because you know how it is. ”Marsh also commented on the bump:“ I was on the way to the sideline and the referee bumped my hip, that's pretty clear. ”The reverse would be Players may have been banned and fined, Marsh said. It was "incredibly inappropriate".
The "Taunting Rules" in the NFL are much more consistent this season, one could also say: more petty whistled.
This is intended to punish the sayings and gestures that are so popular in American football and are intended to provoke opponents.
Not for the first time this season, however, the application of the rule caused criticism.
Time and again, referees punish what, in their opinion, appear to be inappropriately cheering players after important moves.
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