Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh thought game officials got two out of three crucial calls correct in Sunday’s 27-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately for the Ravens, the NFL felt differently in all three cases.
Two calls late in the game were reversed after initially being called in the Ravens’ favor. Meanwhile, league officials admitted on a phone call with the Ravens Monday morning that Alex Moore’s crew erred on a key penalty call.
In his Monday press conference, Harbaugh revealed that he, general manager Eric DeCosta and former referee and current Baltimore staffer Tony Michalek had spoken with the NFL’s senior vice president for officiating administration Perry Fewell, as well as NFL rules analyst and former referee Walt Anderson.
Fewell admitted that game officials incorrectly called an unnecessary roughing penalty on Ravens’ Travis Jones as he rushed a field goal attempt late in the second quarter. The penalty took Chris Boswell’s field goal off the board and gave the Steelers first-and-goal at the 6-yard line. Pittsburgh scored a play later, hence a 13-3 deficit turned into a 17-3 hole for Baltimore.
Jones, who attempted to rush between the snapper and left guard, did make contact with long snapper Christian Kuntz, but it was not forcible contact to the head/neck area.
“That’s the rule,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not whether you run a player over trying to block a field goal — that has nothing to do with it. It’s forcible contact to the head and neck area.”
With 7:01 remaining and the Ravens trailing 27-22, Aaron Rodgers’ pass was batted into the air by Baltimore’s C.J. Okoye. Rodgers initially grasped the ball, but linebacker Teddye Buchanan also took hold and came away with the ball at the bottom of a pile-up at the Steelers’ 32-yard line.
The officials ruled the play as an interception, but after review of the turnover, the call was reversed and Pittsburgh maintained possession. Rodgers was given credit for a minus-9-yard reception on the play.
Then, with 2:47 remaining, it appeared the Ravens had taken the lead when Lamar Jackson’s 13-yard pass to tight end Isaiah Likely was ruled a touchdown on the field. Likely caught the ball, took two steps in the end zone, extended the ball, but did not get a third step down before it was jarred loose by Joey Porter Jr.
On review, officials overruled the touchdown and declared the pass incomplete.
Baltimore only advanced the ball five yards from there, turned it over on downs and could not complete the rally.
“It’s about as clear as mud right now,” Harbaugh said about the much-discussed end zone catch rules. “That’s how I feel about it.”
NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth explained to a pool reporter on Sunday that Likely needed to complete the third step, which is “an act common to the game,” in order for the touchdown to stand.
Harbaugh was not satisfied with the league’s explanations of the two reversals.
“It didn’t clear anything up,” Harbaugh said. “It didn’t make it any easier to understand either one of the two calls. They’re very hard to understand how they get overturned, but they did and that’s where it stands.”
