Late in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 31-24 win over the Miami Dolphins, quarterback Joe Burrow was seen throwing his helmet when he came off the field after failing to score a touchdown in the red zone.
Some thought the frustration came from failing to finish the drive, but it appears it was more related to officiating.
Somehow, the officials missed a blatant roughing the passer call on Burrow’s third-down throw.
This is the play that made Joe threw his helmet on the sidelines. That should have been a flag for a late hit so obvious. pic.twitter.com/6eySZ9NWKI
— Depressed Cincy Fan (@depressedcincy) October 12, 2026
In the video, you can see two defenders hit Burrow well after he releases the ball. Furthermore, it appears both players land on top of Burrow with their full body weight, something the NFL has tried to take out of the game via roughing the passer penalties.
This seems to be a problem Burrow has dealt with for his entire NFL career. We see flags for hits on quarterbacks much less obvious than this every week, but for some reason, Burrow doesn’t seem to get those calls.
Burrow was surely frustrated to not get the call, as it would have extended the drive, but you have to wonder if this is also a result of all of the other missed calls that have built up over time. If the NFL really wants to protect quarterbacks, they could start by enforcing the rules when it comes to one of the more popular quarterbacks in the game.