The Zebras: What the hell were they looking at?

by MelBlunt on Nov 16, 2009 4:02 PM EST Comment 17 comments

I don't want to be accused at blaming a loss on the officials, so let's set aside the outcome of the game. I re-watched most of the game this morning (with lots of fast-forwarding) and 3 of the bad calls I saw jumped out at me, in part because they seemed to raise more general questions about NFL officiating.

First, there was Coles' reception on the sideline where he wasn't even close to getting a second foot in bounds. Unless the official was screened, a call like that suggests a philosophy to give the receiver a huge benefit of the doubt on sideline catches, in contradiction to the philosophy that took a touchdown away from Hines earlier this year, when he dropped a ball he clearly controlled in the end zone, after rolling over out of bounds.

Second, there was Keyaron Fox being tackled from behind on the kick-off return for a touchdown. This was so obvious that it's pretty amazing that it was missed. Yet, the refs subsequently acted like they KNEW it was missed. Just about every later kick return in the game resulted in a ticky-tack penalty of some kind, as if they were trying to make up for a blown call. Should we just legalize blocking in the back during a return, given how often and inconsistently it's called?

Last, there was Santonio's catch for a first down that was erased after a replay review. The call on the field looked like a generous spot, giving us the ball where it first touched Santonio's hands. After the replay, the refs moved the ball back TWO YARDS. How the hell could they miss a call by that much? The only way the two yards less decision makes sense is if the rule defines a receiver's forward progress as where he gains control of the ball and his bodily momentum. Yet, if that interpretation is correct, there is no way Santonio's catch at the goal line in Baltimore last year was a touchdown. We should have had that ball on the 2 yard line. What gives?

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yeah the bengals did enough and deserved the win yada yada

but those are all good points.

Oh well, too late now. No AFC North for the Steelers this year.

"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."

by showtime on Nov 16, 2009 6:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

barely over halfway through the season

don’t jump man! we’ll be fine.

by SteelerStuckintheSouth on Nov 16, 2009 8:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well I said before that all we need to beat the bengals was patience

but that was like a month ago! I meant this game when I said that. One small part of me still believes that cinci’s hubris and their incompetence will be their downfall.

If you want optimism I’ll say this. I have tickets to Steelers @ Dolphins, and this development greatly reduces the chance of the starters sitting for that game.

"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."

by showtime on Nov 16, 2009 8:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tomlin forgot to pay off the refs for us.

That was the problem yesterday.

Ryan Clark remarked that Coach Tomlin once asked whether he wanted to be the nail in the defense, or the hammer. "I said, 'I want to be the hammer coach.'"

by svenhoek on Nov 16, 2009 7:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Well allow me to retort

The first call was challengeable and Tomlin blew it. Refs make mistakes, and that is the reason there is replay. If the coach can’t challenge the right plays, tough noogies.

As to your third point, play stops when the ball is caught and any part of the ball is over the plane of the end zone. If you catch a pass in the end zone your forward progress cannot take you out of the end zone: the play is over. You can, on the other hand, catch a ball at the 30, run back two yards, and then get contacted and have your forward progress stopped at the point where contact was first made. The third call was the absolute right call.

On that last one, Cincinnatti was fortunate the coverage was not tighter. If Tone is contacted as soon as he catches the ball, it is damn close to a first down (although I still think it is short). It took the defender a second to touch him and that made all the difference.

by CarlWeathersMustache on Nov 16, 2009 7:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’m not really complaining about any of these (except maybe the block in the back on Fox), just more interested in the logic behind them. On the sideline catch that Tomlin failed to challenge: If the purpose of replay is to get the calls right, the fact that the network did not have a good view or did not show it until it was too late introduces an inconsistency that seems contrary to the intention of replay. On Santonio’s catch, why should there be so much variation between the way the play is usually called, and was called originally on the field, and the way it was called after the replay review? Even Sims said they usually mark the ball where it first touches the receiver (although he supported the call after replay).

by MelBlunt on Nov 16, 2009 7:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

CBS was very slow with the replay

But is is not the responsibility of the network to aid the coach. Tomlin needs to make the call regardless of the network’s ineptitude.

by CarlWeathersMustache on Nov 16, 2009 11:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

and if it had been a catch and he threw the flag and lost a timeout

we would be ragging on him for that – coaches can’t win…

by acrollet on Nov 17, 2009 8:26 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Right.

The current system expects coaches to use challenges strategically, but they have no control over their access to the information necessary to make those decisions. The NFL system provides more drama, more opportunity too mock the opposing coach when he wastes a time out on a failed challenge, and therefore is probably better TV. The college system, where a replay official upstairs buzzes down to the field on questionable plays, reviews them, and then makes a ruling, seems more about getting the calls right. I hate replay in general, but if we’re going to have it, I’d prefer the system that gets the maximum number of bad calls corrected.

by MelBlunt on Nov 17, 2009 8:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good Points

I, too, wondered about at least two of the three calls you cite. (I missed the illegal block on Fox.) I was really surprised Tomlin didn’t challenge the Coles catch. No one in the bar I was at thought it was a good catch, even before we saw the replay. But that one didn’t hurt us b/c cincy missed the field goal that drive and we got even better field position than we might have had if the Coles catch been ruled out and the Bengals punted. The Santonio catch and placement was really odd. I thought that the original spot was generous but that he was either over the line or real close. But no way that the spot was two yards back of the original placement. NOT an excuse — the Bengals beat us straight up — but those calls did have me scratching me head (and pounding the table).

by Citizen of Steeler Nation on Nov 16, 2009 9:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I love listening to Steeler fans wine about officials. Aren’t they the same officials that gave you Superbowl 2006 and 2009? But what I love more is watching the Bengals punk your weak team even when the officials are doing everything possible to give you the game. Priceless!!!!!!

by Worthlisberger on Nov 17, 2009 12:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

if the steelers were a weak team

you wouldnt love bragging about a week 10 win like its a superbowl victory…im not going to blame the refs…i am going to blame the steelers offense, ben was missing too many open throws, ben had holmes open in the endzone but forced one to wallace on the final field goal we had i believe, and holmes had another touchdown go thru his hands…..every team has a stinker game like this…i just hope we get one more chance at these bungals before they get knocked out of the playoffs

by steelerholic on Nov 17, 2009 1:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah I'd be jealous too

I can’t imagine what it was like for the bengals when they get their first playoff game in 15 years only to have the Steelers come in, destroy their QB, and then make a run to a 5th Superbowl title. So I forgive you if you’re a little jealous of us. I wonder what it would be like to root for a team as horrible as the bengals? We can only speculate.

"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."

by showtime on Nov 17, 2009 7:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I wonder what it would be like to root for a team as horrible as the bengals? We can only speculate.

And breath a huge sigh of relief!

"Chris! That's a terrible word! Pussywillows..."
-Lois Griffin

by SteelFever on Nov 17, 2009 12:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

By the way

I do believe everyone above said the refs ddin’t cost us the game, just made bad calls (like every game nowadays). Check yourself, Bungle fan. You definetly don’t want to see the Steelers again AND YOU KNOW IT. Just go away and be happy with your regular season highlights as usual. Ask the Titans about that, LMAO. BTW, what sportsbar are you and the Bungles going to watch the Steelers playoff games at?

by SteelerStuckintheSouth on Nov 17, 2009 12:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Steelerfs Fans whine?

Since we beat you in the playoffs on our way to winning the super bowl in ’05, all we have heard from your pathetic fan base is this: “If Kimo Von Olhofen wouldn’t have taken a cheap shot on Palmer, we would have won the super bowl”. We give credit where credit is due and you beat us twice, nothing about the refs calls would of changed the game for us we played horrendous.

But beware Bungles (band wagon) fans, greater collapses have happened in the NFL before. Denver last season comes to mind.

by daburgh73 on Nov 17, 2009 2:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs