The Cincinnati Bengals endured a disappointing 24–0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. To make everything worse, Bengals fans who made it to Paycor Stadium by game time were shocked to witness an unpleasant challenge. They found their seats covered in snow, despite league rules requiring home teams to clear all snow from seating areas.

The Bengals have since acknowledged that the team didn’t clean every seat. On an inquiry from Pro Football Talk, the NFL issued a statement to explain the situation.

“The league’s football operations and security departments were in contact with the club and stadium personnel over the previous 48 hours regarding snow removal. The field, sidelines, aisles, and walkways were prioritized and appropriately cleared throughout the weekend,” a league spokesman said.

The League has further pointed out the weather conditions.

“Additional snowfall occurred overnight, which resulted in minimal accumulation within the stadium bowl,” the spokesperson added. “Mitigation efforts were implemented to ensure the field and stadium were ready for the game. Stadium personnel assisted fans at their seats as necessary.”

But that explanation soon did little to abate criticism, as clearly visible snow on seats well in advance of kickoff time raised questions around when exactly all this snow occurred. Weather reports show a good part of this snow fell on Saturday afternoon & evening.

As stated in the NFL Operations Manual, the snow removal duties are pretty well spelled out.

“Each home club is responsible for having a snow removal plan in place and ensuring that its stadium has adequate snow removal equipment available. Snow and ice must be removed from the stadium before all games. This applies to the playing field, sidelines, seating bowl, aisles, pedestrian ramps, walkways, parking lots, etc,” according to page A48 of the 2022-2023 Operations Manual.

But given the league’s response, it at least seemed that the NFL did not have a problem in accepting the explanation that the Bengals gave them.

Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president of communications, also expressed his take on this situation.

“The league’s football operations and security departments were in contact with the club and stadium personnel over the previous 48 hours regarding snow removal,” said McCarthy. “The field, sidelines, aisles, and walkways were prioritized and appropriately cleared throughout the weekend.”

The incident drew criticism from Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas, as Dumas huffed on social media after the game.

“I want to apologize to the Bengals fans that had to clean snow, out of their own seats. The Bengals have to do better !! I demand it and so does the NFL,” Dumas wrote on Facebook.

Greater Cincinnati got roughly four to six inches of snow on Saturday, and if you had any television coverage, at one point, some fans were shown scraping snow off their section. While the league has mentioned safety and field playability, those same spectators have qualms about the seating area.

This stadium controversy developed, and it seemed like there was nothing visible on the horizon to soothe a frustrated fan base in the form of an improved product on the field. However, the Bengals failed in that as well.

Bengals further embarrassed by loss to Ravens

That frustration didn’t end on the sidelines either as the team was shut out 24-0 by the Ravens in a game that eliminated them from contention with three games left in the season.

It was their first shutout at home since 2009. Quarterback Joe Burrow had a tough day, being sacked three times and having an interception returned for a touchdown. Though their defense did manage to keep their team in the game early with multiple sacks and a turnover, their offense never seemed to get in rhythm.

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With their hopes of making the playoffs over, the Bengals have moved on to closing out this season, while trying to build some momentum for the next season.