It looked for a second like C.J. Beathard saved the day Monday night. Facing a third down in overtime around midfield, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ backup quarterback rolled to his right and heaved a ball downfield to Calvin Ridley who hauled in a 43-yard grab on the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2-yard line.
The crowd went wild … until they saw the yellow flag near the line of scrimmage. A holding penalty on rookie right tackle Anton Harrison nullified the play and led to a punt two plays later.
On ESPN2’s ManningCast, former NFL quarterback Eli Manning argued that the Bengals’ Sam Hubbard “flopped” to draw the flag, while ex-Bengals receiver Chad Johnson defended the call.
"That's a flop!" – Eli Manning
"Eli, that's a hold!" – Chad Ochocinco #MNF #ManningCast pic.twitter.com/xzXUNUdVkb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 5, 2023
Harrison said his opinion of the penalty doesn’t matter, though.
“The refs are gonna do their job, I’m not gonna agree with everything,” Harrison said in the locker room after the Jaguars’ 34-31 loss. “I just got to try to put myself in a better position. That’s really it. I got to put myself in a better position to make that block.”
Harrison has done well to avoid penalties during his rookie season. The costly holding penalty was the fifth flag thrown on the first-round pick this season and the third for holding. Veterans Walker Little and Brandon Scherff have drawn six and five, respectively.
The right tackle that Harrison replaced, Jawann Taylor, has drawn a league-high 16 flags in his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs.
