The biggest call of the game for the Denver Broncos against the Los Angeles Rams came in the first quarter, and Emmanuel Sanders wasn't a fan.
The Broncos were on the Rams 44 yard line when Case Keenum aired it out to Emmanuel Sanders who caught the ball and appeared to get the touchdown. When he stood up, he pointed at the defender and was assessed a 15-yard penalty for taunting.
The taunting penalty should have come on the kickoff but after the review, but it was determined Sanders didn't get in the end zone, so the penalty moved the ball back to the 16-yard line. The team didn't get back into the end zone on the drive and instead had to settle for a field goal.
“To me, honestly, I feel like the league is getting soft,” Sanders said via ESPN. “I'm having fun. I didn't do anything crazy to the guy besides say, ‘I got you on that play,' pointing my finger at him. [The official] threw the flag, which is crazy because I feel like I've been in the league nine years and I've been pointing at guys, go back and look at my film, I've been pointing at guys all the time and saying, ‘I got you on that play.'
The Broncos ended up losing by only three points and those four points lost partly because of the taunting penalty proved to be really costly.
“When I look at the scoreboard — we lost by three points — I feel like we could have easily punched that ball in, got four [more] points. I don't see the penalty in that. … I'll learn from it. … I'll keep chugging along.”