Rob Ryan Thinks Bengals Missed Game-Winning FG, NFL Disagrees

It took almost five weeks, but finally something other than awful news for the Cleveland Browns. Even though it won't show up in the standings, there's a good chance they tied the Bengals last Sunday.

During a Friday press conference, Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said that it looked like Bengals kicker Shayne Graham missed the game-deciding 31-yard field goal attempt that the officials ultimately ruled good. Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot:

"I thought you were talking about that missed field goal. Somebody should look at it or research it. It was disappointing.'' ...

"You could watch the tape, that would be great. I'm not saying anything, but man, maybe the posts were crooked. [But] I don't want to get fined. I pay enough money on a house I don't even live in in California.''

Ryan added: "I don't want to make this a big story, but I was disappointed. Of course, I'm not an expert. That's why I'm saying maybe somebody else should look at it."

You can see the video here. And below, a frame-by-frame breakdown.


The Bengals line up for the 31-yarder with seven seconds remaining in overtime.


The kick is off. So far, so good.


Still inside the right upright, the ball still hasn't cleared the crossbar.


Um, the ball now appears to be outside the right upright.


And that looks like a Scott Norwood reenactment.

Good or not, it's close. (Yes, the camera angle skews the perspective, so maybe it's not as close as it appears. But such details would poke all kinds of holes my "the Browns got jobbed!" theory. Nothing a little hand-waving can't fix, however. [Waves hands.])

Maybe more telling than trying to follow the ball flight, the Browns players aren't waving their arms frantically like they thought Graham missed. Which could mean that the kick was good. Or that they had had enough and just wanted to go home.

For what it's worth, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello later told Cabot that "The field judge standing right underneath the upright called it good, and we have reviewed multiple video from different angles and seen nothing to dispute the call."

So, right, it's not quite a "W." Think of it as a more moral victory plus a little extra. Hey, progress!