There's a new worst rule in football, and it cost the Bengals a shot at beating the Jets

• The Bengals lost to the Jets on Sunday in the biggest upset of the NFL weekend.
• On the Jets' final drive, they got a cheap first down on a penalty for illegal use of the helmet.

The Cincinnati Bengals missed out on a chance to pull off a comeback win against the New York Jets on Sunday because of the worst rule in football.

With just over two minutes remaining, the Jets got the ball back with a 34-31 lead. If they could run out the clock, they would win.

After two stops and a false start penalty against the Jets, the Bengals defense had forced New York into third-and-11 right at the two-minute warning.

On third down, Jets quarterback Mike White dumped off a quick pass to running back Ty Johnson, who was quickly met by Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton.

Hilton was going low on the play to bring Johnson down. The moment before the two met, Johnson ducked his head down into Hilton's helmet. The officials flagged Hilton for a 15-yard penalty for illegal use of the helmet.

-Christian D'Andrea probably does not own a brewery (@TrainIsland) October 31, 2021

With the first down, the Jets had sealed the game. Had the flag not been thrown, the Bengals would have gotten the ball back, with plenty of time to drive the field for a game-tying field goal, or possibly more. Because of the penalty, they never got the chance.

The NFL's illegal use of the helmet penalty is designed to keep players safe. That's a good thing! But where the NFL has run into trouble is with enforcing this specific rule.

Officially, the rule says: "It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent."

Again, a good idea here, NFL! We do not want players launching themselves helmet-first into oblivion. Good instincts!

But although this rule is specifically written to be enforceable against offensive and defensive players, it really only gets called against the defense.

In the play above, it's pretty clear that Hilton is going out of his way to avoid helmet contact with Johnson when he goes to make his tackle.

It is Johnson, the ball-carrier, that lowers his head and thus "initiate[s] and make[s] contact with his helmet against [his] opponent."

The officials could have just let this one go, or if they were really going by the letter of the law, called Johnson for a 15-yard penalty for lowering his helmet.

They even had the option to flag both players for lowering their respective helmets, resulting in offsetting penalties and replaying the down.

Instead, the game ended with the Bengals going home losers.

The rule that the NFL put in place just a few years ago isn't entirely broken, but its enforcement is. Until offensive players start getting penalized for intiating helmet-to-helmet contact with their defenders, NFL defenses are playing with one hand tied behind their back. Between that, and the numerous other rules in place that give offenses an edge, making a living playing defense in the NFL is only getting harder and harder.

"I just don't know what a tackle is anymore!" Hilton tweeted after the game.

Neither do we.