There are many stories coming out of the Chicago Bears’ heartbreaking loss in Pittsburgh on Monday night. Justin Fields had a breakout performance. The defense gave the game away. However, the biggest story is the one nobody wanted. The egregious officiating. It was incredible to watch how many bad calls there were. Chicago was flagged 12 times for 115 penalty yards. Yet one stood out far above others. This one involves Cassius Marsh.
With 3:40 left in the game and the Bears trailing by three, the recent addition to the Bears defense came up with a huge play, sacking Ben Roethlisberger on 3rd and 8 to force a punt. Then lead official Tony Corrente inexplicably threw a flag on Marsh for taunting. Nobody could figure out where it came from. Then upon viewing the replay, it clearly looks like Corrente leans into Marsh to initiate contact. Only then does he throw the flag.
Everything about this sequence reeks of the game being rigged.
NFL needs to suspend that Ref. He intentionally stuck his butt out ,so Bears player could run into him and then threw a flag.
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) November 9, 2021
Cassius Marsh says he got hip checked by the ref who threw the taunting penalty. pic.twitter.com/BtD8tRoDwF
— BFR (@BFRMedia) November 9, 2021
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Nothing about that play deserved a flag. There was no taunting by Cassius Marsh and that video shows Corrente practically created a reason out of thin air to keep the Steelers’ drive alive. It proved to be a game-changing moment. Pittsburgh scored a field goal shortly after and those three points proved the difference in the game as they prevailed 29-27. The Bears played sloppy football. That is true, but many of the calls were horrible.
This one deserves legitimate attention from the NFL. Not only was it not a penalty. It’s hard not to feel like the refs intentionally changed the outcome of a football game. Not the sort of controversy this league wants to happen. Especially with the taunting rule already being so unpopular with the fans and media as it is. It was a horseshit call in every way imaginable. Somebody needs to get fired or at least suspended for it.
