Vic Fangio heard all the questions about his decision not to call timeout with the Titans driving toward the winning field goal. The Broncos coach had a question about an official’s call that negated an interception earlier in the game.
Rookie cornerack Michael Ojemudia intercepted Ryan Tannehill early in the third quarter. The takeaway, though, was negated by an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Fangio called the penalty on linebacker Alexander Johnson “highly questionable.”
Officials cited Johnson for hitting a player -- Titans running back Derrick Henry -- out of the play.
“I didn’t see it happen live, and when I saw it on the tape, he just chucked (Henry), in his chest, inside of 5 yards (of the line of scrimmage),” Fangio said, via Kyle Newman of the Denver Post. “He didn’t hit him in the back, neck or head area. I was surprised by the call.”
Rule 12-2-8(g) of the 2020 NFL Rulebook says unnecessary roughness can be defined as “unnecessarily running, diving into, cutting, or throwing the body against or on a player who is out of the play.”
“Obviously, I was just playing ball, playing within the whistle — playing football — but referee saw something else and it (stinks) that we had an interception we had to return,” Johnson said after the game. “That hurt the team right there.”