Skip Bayless shreds NFL refs for being afraid to flag Ravens vs. Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took a beating during Thursday night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Burrow took multiple unflagged late hits and in the fourth quarter, had two infractions involving his facemask simply not called. One of those happened on the game-deciding two-point attempt that failed.

Onlookers are livid, with Skip Bayless actually leading the way by saying the NFL ruined one of the best games he's ever seen.

"How can you let Baltimore, in Baltimore, get away with hitting Joe Burrow in the head twice on the last drive?" Bayless said. "One grab of the facemask. One smash to the facemask and you don't call that? That's just choking. That's just the refs afraid to reach for the yellow in the Ravens stadium because they're afraid of the Ravens fans."

Usually, reactions like these about officiating fall into hyperbole and are easily dismissed. But when the official broadcast of the game is calling out the missed flags -- and noting it has been a problem all year -- it's hard to handwave away.

The Bengals missed plenty of opportunities to put Thursday night's game away and move to 5-5. Instead, they're 4-6 after blowing a big lead. But yes, it would be nice if all-time classics like Thursday night -- and any game, for that matter -- weren't marred by strange officiating hiccups so consistently.

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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Skip Bayless shreds NFL refs for being afraid to flag Ravens vs. Bengals