Bengals called for controversial ‘disconcerting signals’ penalty against Cardinals

The Cincinnati Bengals sealed their own fate against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday night with a penalty that we rarely see called in the NFL.

With the score tied 31-31, Carson Palmer stood under center waiting to spike the ball and stop the clock with seconds remaining, setting up what would have been a 45-yard field goal attempt to win the game. Instead, a flag came out with six seconds left in the fourth quarter.

At first, it appeared that Cardinals right guard Ted Larsen committed a false start penalty. If that was the case, there would have been a 10-second runoff and the quarter would have ended. Instead, officials ruled that Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko was mimicking the snap count in an attempt to make Arizona jump. That resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for “disconcerting signals.”

You can see a video of the play here.

The penalty was half the distance to the goal, and Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 32-yard field goal to win the game. Marvin Lewis was baffled by the call and said Peko was shouting as his teammates to “get set.” Palmer later told Peter King of The MMQB that it was very obvious what Peko was trying to do.

“I don’t know who it was who was saying it, but it was obvious. He was saying ‘Set, Go!’” Palmer explained. “The ref ran right in. They heard it. They knew.”

There’s no way of knowing if Catanzaro would have hit the field goal anyway, but the costly penalty certainly made his job easier.

Wait, does that mean there was a controversial play involving possible gamesmanship that didn’t involve this NFL team? We never thought we’d see the day.