The NFL announced during the offseason that an increased emphasis would be placed on penalizing taunting this year, and that was clearly more than just an empty warning.
Fans were left frustrated on Sunday by taunting penalties in both the Bengals-Bears and Bills-Dolphins games. The first was called on Chicago safety Tashaun Gipson after he broke up a pass on 3rd down. Gipson was flagged for standing over Ja’Marr Chase and clapping.
#Bears Safety Tashaun Gipson was called for taunting here.
Clapped right in the face of Ja'Marr Chase. https://t.co/BRsp8h7dPF
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 19, 2021
Then, a short while later, the same happened to Dolphins cornerback Levi Wallace.
This was called taunting by Levi Wallace… for some reason.
So he followed it by picking off Jacoby Brisset right after.pic.twitter.com/x5L4zRiLU0
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 19, 2021
Were both players guilty of taunting? Yes. The issue is that most fans want the NFL to allow it to an extent. Very few people seem to be in favor of the league’s new zero-tolerance taunting approach.
We saw a few ridiculous taunting penalties during exhibition games, and the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. The NFL obviously doesn’t care.
