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Come Fan with UsSunday, June 21, 2026

Joe Burrow’s obvious facemask call was somehow missed by refs vs. the Cowboys

How did the refs miss this?

Ricky O'Donnell
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.

The Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals have both had disappointing seasons, but they’re not going down without a fight. Two desperate teams facing off on Monday Night Football to cap Week 14 produced a competitive game into the fourth quarter when the refs made themselves part of the story with a terrible blown call.

With the score tied at 20 with under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Burrow faced a 2nd-and-13 from the Cincy 46-yard line. The Dallas pass rush got home, hitting Burrow and forcing what looked like a fumble. Burrow very obviously got ripped down by his facemask on the play, but somehow the refs missed the call.

Dallas recovered the ball, but the refs would overturn the play and eventually rule it an incompletion after a Bengals challenge. Cincy kept possession before punting two plays later. The facemask should have made it first down Cincinatti, but the refs missed the call. Watch the play here:

The refs can’t miss an easy facemask call at a critical moment like that. It sure does seem like Burrow has a habit of not getting these calls.

Burrow got the last laugh, finding Ja’Marr Chase for a 40-yard touchdown strike on his very next drive to win the Bengals the win.

Cincinnati beat the Cowboys, 27-20.

The Bengals move to 5-8 on the year, while the Cowboys fall to 5-8.

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