Loyalty to your team sometimes supercedes everything.
That's what happened to the individuals operating the official Twitter feeds for the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals following a controversial call in Sunday's matchup between the AFC North rivals.
With 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton appeared to connect with tight end Jermaine Gresham on a 9-yard touchdown pass. Officials ruled it a catch on the field, but the Ravens challenged the call, which was reversed because Gresham apparently didn't possess the ball through the catch (aka the Calvin Johnson Rule).
"When the receiver went to the ground, he had the ball in his right hand," referee Ron Winter said, according to The Associated Press. "The ball touched the ground, and his hand came off the ball."
So instead of pulling within three, the Bengals were forced to settle for a field goal. It was the last points they'd score in a 31-24 loss.
Moments after the play in question, the Bengals sent out a tweet that was all kinds of fired up.
"Bengals get jobbed on replay, TD inexplicably gets overturned on review," the tweet read.
Jobbed! Inexplicably! Strong language for a team Twitter feed, which normally sticks just to the facts.
Over on the Ravens' feed, the author was so relieved, he/she dropped any pretense of neutrality and just rocked the first-person angle.
"Wow, that's a huge call," the tweet read. "Cincy will have to settle for a field goal. Hey, I'll take it."
Yeah, you should. It helped Baltimore tie Pittsburgh at 7-3, atop the division standings, and dropped Cincinnati one game back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
