CINCINNATI -- The person least upset about the penalty flag on Jabrill Peppers late in the Cleveland Browns' 30-16 loss to the Bengals was Jabrill Peppers.

“They made the right call,” Peppers said after the Browns fell to 0-11. “And I just have to move on from it.”

His coach and his teammates disagree. And based on the uproar on social media during and after the game, so do Browns fans who are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

The Bengals led by seven in the fourth quarter and faced third-and-5 from the Browns' 40-yard line. Andy Dalton threw down the sideline to Josh Malone. Browns cornerback Jamar Taylor had firm hold of Malone’s right arm, but Malone was still able to briefly cradle the ball with his left at about the 8.

That’s when Peppers came across the field and delivered a blow that sent Malone flying one way and the ball another. A flag followed, thrown from the middle of the field.

Peppers was penalized for hitting a defenseless player, though Browns coach Hue Jackson said Peppers was penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit.

Peppers did not argue the call.

“I tried to stay within the strike zone,” Peppers said. “I kind of left a little doubt to the refs. I tried to keep it out of the head and neck area, but it was a bang-bang play. I can’t be mad at them. Their job is to throw the flag whenever there’s any doubt. It is what it is.”

His coach and teammates disagreed.

“I thought it was a clean hit,” cornerback Jason McCourty said. “The replay showed it was a clean hit. It looked like good football.”

“I think Jabrill made a heck of a play on the ball,” quarterback DeShone Kizer said. “That’s the job of the safety, to separate the ball from the player.”

“I think that Jabrill did everything in his power to not have a helmet-to-helmet contact,” linebacker Chris Kirksey said.

Jackson agreed, saying any contact to the head was a result of the initial hit of Peppers’ shoulder to Malone’s chest.

“I thought our player’s shoulder hit him in the chest” Jackson said. “The torque of the impact could have caused their player’s head to react the way it did. To me, that’s football. He didn’t target their player’s head.

“That was a huge call at that point in the game, and the officials have to get that one right.”

The problem for Peppers and the Browns is that intent does not matter. At some point in the hit, the top of Peppers’ helmet hit Malone’s face mask, which is a penalty because it is in the head or neck area defined by the league.

The NFL rule states that it is a penalty for “forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, face mask, forearm or shoulder, even if the initial contact is lower than the player’s neck."

Whether Malone was defenseless after taking a couple of steps is a judgment call. The rule states a receiver is defenseless if he has “completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a runner.”

In the opinion of the officials, Malone was defenseless. And Peppers didn’t argue. He also said it’s not difficult for him to avoid hits that could be penalized.

“That’s kind of my job,” Peppers said. “You kind of have to line it up as you’re running. But that’s why they pay us, to be able to do that and make those decisions on the fly like that. It’s not hard at all.”

Next time, Peppers said he would “just go lower.” The problem is that going too low could endanger a player’s knees, but the league has made it clear it will closely call any hits it deems dangerous.

The NFL will decide during the week if Peppers will be fined. That decision will be interesting. If he’s not fined, it would indicate the league agrees with Jackson that the hit was within the standards.

There were other calls that affected the game, as well. McCourty had what looked like a third-down stop negated by a very questionable interference call. And Taylor had locked Malone’s arm up on the reception.

But the bottom line is that in this era of the NFL, the league and officials will always fall on the side of player safety. The league has gone to great ends to take blindside hits and any hits to the head out of the game, which is why the rule is written that it doesn’t matter if the initial contact is not to the head.

Peppers had zero intention of trying to hurt Malone; he was just trying to make a physical play. But intent doesn’t matter -- only what happens in the judgment of the official.

“I gotta know, with all the player-safety things going on,” Peppers said, “that I can’t leave anything to chance.”