In the first quarter of Sunday’s game, the Houston Texans lined up to go for it on 4th-and-2 before being penalized for a false start just before the ball was snapped. The play was blown dead and Houston would have faced a 4th-and-7 if not for a penalty called against Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton.
Singleton continued his route to Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud after the whistle had blown and he reached the QB and gave him a slight push. Stroud then smacked his helmet against Singleton’s helmet, and the linebacker then pushed the QB again and was penalized.
Regardless of whether or not Stroud should have been penalized for his own actions, Singleton should not have retaliated.
“We let a rookie bait us into a personal foul,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said during his conference call with reporters on Monday.
That penalty gave Houston a first down and they went on to score a touchdown in a game that was eventually decided by five points. Singleton’s penalty likely ended up being a four-point swing, and Denver had the ball within field goal distance at the end of the game.
So it’s probably not unfair to say Singleton’s penalty essentially cost the Broncos the game, or at least cost them a potentially game-winning field goal attempt at the end of the game.
Here’s a sampling of how Twitter/X reacted to Singleton being penalized on Sunday.