‘Frustrated’ Joe Burrow has a controversial ‘4-word’ response to the Chiefs getting aided by referee’s bizarre taunting call in the AFC Championship Game

Burrow advised the refs to overlook taunting and let the game flow.

‘Frustrated’ Joe Burrow has a controversial ‘4-word’ response to the Chiefs getting aided by referee’s bizarre taunting call in the AFC Championship Game

Ravens rookie receiver Zay Flowers taunted Chiefs corner L'Jarius Sneed, (M) Joe Burrow (Screengrab YouTube and ESPN)

The NFL has always strived to discourage players from taunting, but Joe Burrow has a different view. During the AFC Championship game, Zay Flowers had a minor staredown with L’Jarius Sneed, which resulted in the referee penalizing him.

Late in the third quarter, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson hurled a 54-yard pass to Flowers while trailing 17-7. Flowers caught the ball, then cut inside and then outside, until Sneed brought the rookie wide receiver down.

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The Kansas City Chiefs‘ cornerback made contact with Flowers’ leg during the takedown. It fired the Ravens’ playmaker up. Following the tackle, he stood up and appeared to stare down at Sneed, mocking him, then got flagged by the referee.

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Joe Burrow, watching the game from the comforts of his house as the Bengals didn’t make it, sympathized with Flowers. He sent out a tweet like the fairy godmother, saying,

Let the players taunt.

For a while, momentum has been growing to revise the league rules about players’ taunting. It still isn’t clear what counts as a taunt or when the referee can throw the yellow. So whenever there’s a situation similar to Sneed and Flowers, it always sparks a debate about whether the officials got it right or not.

Sneed got his revenge on Flowers

It took only four plays for the Sneed to pay back Flowers for his earlier transgression as the Chiefs carved out a shock-away win. On the opening play of the fourth quarter, the 23-year-old receiver caught an 8-yard pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson, which appeared to be a touchdown at first glance.

'Frustrated' Joe Burrow has a controversial '4-word' response to the Chiefs getting aided by referee's bizarre taunting call in the AFC Championship Game
L’Jarius Sneed (Image via SI)

However, Sneed knocked the ball out of Flowers’ grasp as it rolled inside the endzone. The referee decided to rule the play as a touchback, and the Chiefs regained possession once more. They held on to book another Super Bowl spot, winning the game 17-10.

Flowers finished the game with five catches for 115 yards, which was a massive improvement from his Texans outing, where he only had 41 receiving yards. Quarterback Lamar Jackson did not have the best of games, throwing several wayward passes. Jackson completed 20 from 37 for 272 yards, 8 carries for 54 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

Sneed, who has a 71 PFF grade, capped off another impressive outing. The dynamic corner had 5 tackles in the game, which took his overall postseason total to 14 tackles (5 in Buffalo, 4 against Miami). He will now face the winners of the NFC Championship in the Super Bowl.

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