Posts Tagged ‘Steelers’

Head ref tells ‘SNF’ crew it was helmet hit, but, please, there is no Steeler conspiracy

• Controversy, Week 13
Sunday, December 5, 2010 – 11:35 pm | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

Week 13: Steelers at Ravens

A third quarter hit on Steelers receiver Heath Miller by Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain sounded pretty bad (video and audio), and the Steelers’ faithful were waiting for the penalty. There was none.

Overruled by the main office. This was according to Sports Illustrated/Sunday Night Football reporter Peter King via Twitter. While it doesn’t change the call on the field, McClain could be short a pile of money this week. Al Michaels said during the game on NBC that the vice-president of officiating, Carl Johnson, made that statement.

What appears was called by the officials (without benefit of replay) was that since Miller was falling to the ground, Miller’s helmet came in the path of McClain’s. The replay also shows McClain putting his hands out, albeit weakly, which may have helped his case.

Still, it’s a defenseless receiver, and therefore a penalty. It is not the same as a runner who, under his own power, lowers his helmet and, for lack of a better word, “induces” the helmet-to-helmet contact.

Terry McAulay’s crew was officiating.

And, while most of the defense, the coach, and the owner complained this week that 120 officials have it in for one team, I am sure there will be a lot more discussion this week in the ‘Burgh.

NFL establishes 25-for-fighting standard: minimum fine, no benching for slugfest

• Discipline, Follow-up, Week 12
Monday, November 29, 2010 – 11:28 pm | 1 Comment

by Ben Austro

Street brawls and cheap shots are about to become a bit more common in the NFL.

After banging each other under the hood, the NFL opted to fine habitual offender Cortland Finnegan of the Titans and repeat offender Andre Johnson $25,000 each — the league minimum for a second offense . Neither player will sit out next week’s game as was widely speculated.

Last week, the NFL assessed the same fine on the Raiders’ Richard Seymour for his sucker punch on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. This was a second offense for Seymour.

Finnegan was warned to watch his on-field roughness in Week 4 or that he would face a possible suspension. I suppose a suspension would be possible if Johnson’s detached head was still in the helmet when Finnegan threw it.

The league is sending a very clear message that this behavior will be lightly punished. Especially when the fine amounts to 5½ minutes of work.

Week 12 open forum, assignments

• Assignments, Open Forum, Week 12
Sunday, November 28, 2010 – 1:19 pm | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

Updated 11/29 for new feature, below

If you see a call that is a turkey, let us know in the comments section of this post. Referee assignments are after the jump.

Update: Starting this week, we will update the open forum with any calls we read about that aren’t worthy of (or if we don’t have time for) a full, standalone post. If we miss one, send us a link in the comments. Some of these may expand to full posts later in the week, as well.

  • Steelers at Bills. Steelers linebacker James Harrison believes that he shouldn’t have been flagged for roughing the passer (for helmet-to-helmet contact) in the third quarter (via Scott Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
  • Jaguars at Giants. Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio questioned the offensive pass interference call against Kassim Osgood in the fourth quarter (via Vito Stellino, The Florida Times-Union). Also in that game, there was no penalty called on Jaguars defensive back Tyron Brackenridge for contact after a fair catch on Darius Reynaud. While Giants coach Tom Coughlin didn’t question the call, the game supervisor, former veteran referee Johnny Grier, phoned the league office in Manhattan about the non-call according to Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.
  • Eagles at Bears. A question was raised in a discussion board about a player who does not try to advance an onside kick. When a player “gives himself up” he does not have to be touched down by an opponent to have the play declared dead. This happens more often on kicks (because it prevents the clock from running), but the same applies when a quarterback takes a knee to run out the clock.

 

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NFL: 2 Steeler penalties were in error

• Calls, Week 9
Sunday, November 14, 2010 – 11:22 am | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

WEEK 9: STEELERS AT BENGALS

The NFL does not generally make public announcements regarding mistaken calls by the referees. Occasionally, they will contact the team with such an admission, and these conversations are generally confidential. Generally, these conversations are only leaked out, and Vikings coach Brad Childress found out two weeks ago that the league doesn’t appreciate these admissions making the public wire. He was fined for disclosing this confidential information.

It’s unknown whether a league or team source was the tip-off, but Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Gerry Dulac  reported on Friday that the NFL had agreed with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on two contested calls from the Monday night game. The two calls on consecutive plays helped set up the Bengals on the 1-yard line for a fourth-quarter touchdown:

  • A low-hit call on Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was penalized 15 yards on nose tackle Casey Hampton.
  • Cornerback Ike Taylor was penalized for pass interference on Bengals receiver Terrell Owens.

The first call is in an odd category of an acceptable call. The league has long told the officials that if they are unsure of head and knee contact being illegal, they should err on the side of safety and call the penalty. So even though the league may agree that there was no penalty because Palmer’s thigh was contacted, and not his knee, the official was following the safety-first provision.

The crew was headed by Ron Winter.

Steelers get second chance after replay erases TD, but turnover never happened

• Controversy, Week 7
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 – 12:11 am | 3 Comments

by Ben Austro

The rulebook exists to lay out a protocol for the game of football. It never claims to be fair.

The Dolphins found as much when they apparently sealed a victory, only to have replay give the Steelers a second chance to win the game.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger scored a go-ahead touchdown, but fumbled the ball. The play was ruled a touchdown, but replay determined that Roethlisberger, indeed, fumbled prior to scoring the touchdown (video). The Dolphins claimed a recovery of the loose ball.

However, we could not explain the ultimate ruling any better than referee Gene Steratore, trying to channel the voluminous descriptions of some of his colleagues:

After review, it has been determined that prior to the ball crossing the goal line, the runner did lose possession of the ball. However, by rule in replay, two aspects of this play must be available to be viewed. Not only did we have to view the fumble being a fumble, we also have to have clear evidence of the team recovering the ball.

After review, we do not have clear evidence of the defense recovering the football. Therefore, Pittsburgh will have the ball, fourth and goal at the half-yard line. Miami will not be charged with a timeout, and the clock will start on the ready-for-play [signal].

My initial reaction is that the spot of the ball is incorrect. We know the ball was determined to have been fumbled, because the touchdown was overturned. Since we don’t have a conclusive recovery (according to replay rules), the ball is ruled dead at the point when there was a touchdown signal, regardless if there was a whistle. So the loose ball is ruled dead in the end zone, and the offense is responsible for putting the loose ball in the end zone, therefore, the correct ruling should be touchback, Dolphins ball.

There was a similar circumstance last year where replay determined the ball to be dead after touching an out-of-bounds player in the end zone. The result was a touchback for the other team.

Apparently, that reasoning only applies when the ball is out of bounds, not loose and dead in the end zone. Also, if you don’t recover your own team’s forward fumble (like when it goes out of bounds), the ball goes back to the spot of the fumble. (Update 10/30: Specific rules are cited in the comments by popular demand.)

And credit to Steratore for making the correct call, even though your gut might tell you the ruling would be otherwise.

Helmet-to-helmet hit may result in butt-to-bench, increased fines

• News
Sunday, October 24, 2010 – 9:46 am | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

After some nasty helmet-to-helmet collisions on the football field, it was comments made in the broadcast studio that attracted the attention of the NFL. On Sunday Night Football, former Chargers and Patriots safety Rodney Harrison—who was voted twice by his peers as the dirtiest player in the game—said that fines had no impact on his on-field behavior:

Fining me five- or ten-grand really didn’t affect me. But I got to a point where when they suspended me, I knew the effect on my teammates. [It was] the disappointment, me not being out there, not the $100,000 that got taken away from me. … That’s what they’re going to have to do to if they’re going to change the nature of these hits: you have to suspend guys.


Much different than the Harrison who declared in 2006 after his second dirtiest player crown: “All I can say is as many guys as say I’m a dirty player, just as many come up and tell me they admire how I play, the hard work, the commitment, the toughness. That’s the pride you’re looking for. I take pride in that. But dirty? I don’t think you guys can look in my eyes and say I’m a dirty player.”

The league took a hard-line stance, handing out major fines (compared with other helmet-to-helmet hits as recent as last week) for the hits that started this conversation:

  • Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson hit Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson in the head so hard, Jackson does not remember the hit. Robinson was fined $50,000.
  • Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather was also docked $50,000 for a hit that had Ravens tight end Todd Heap out for the remainder of the game.
  • Steelers linebacker James Harrison knocked two Browns players out of the game and was fined $75,000.

Recently, fines of $5,000 to $10,000 were the standard. In one case of these three cases, a player essentially played for free, as the fine exceeded his game check.

After these fines were assessed, the NFL released a DVD (video) to all teams and this statement on Wednesday:

TO NFL PLAYERS AND COACHES:

One of our highest priorities is player safety.  We all know that football is a tough game that includes hard contact.  But that carries with it an obligation to do all that we can to protect all players from unnecessary injury caused by dangerous techniques from those who play outside the rules.

The video shown today shows what kind of hits are against the rules, but also makes clear that you can play a hard, physical game within the rules.

Violations of the playing rules that unreasonably put the safety of another player in jeopardy have no place in the game, and that is especially true in the case of hits to the head and neck.  Accordingly, from this point forward, you should be clear on the following points:

1.         Players are expected to play within the rules.  Those who do not will face increased discipline, including suspensions, starting with the first offense.

2.         Coaches are expected to teach playing within the rules.  Failure to do so will subject both the coach and the employing club to discipline.

3.         Game officials have been directed to emphasize protecting players from illegal and dangerous hits, and particularly from hits to the head and neck.  In appropriate cases, they have the authority to eject players from a game.

ROGER GOODELL, Commissioner

We will have a round-up of the reaction from players and coaches to the NFL’s increased enforcement for these hits.

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Originally published October 23, 2010 at 10:01 PM | Page modified October 23, 2010 at 10:11 PM

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Steve Kelley

Stiff penalties on headhunters is important in protecting NFL players

Hard hits, violent hits, are part of football. And injuries, even serious injuries, are inevitable. The league can’t legislate the violence out of the game, nor should it. But it has to protect the unprotected and it has to punish the players who launch themselves head-first into receivers and running backs and quarterbacks.

Steve Kelley

Seattle Times staff columnist

For many years, when sportswriters stayed at the same hotel with the team, I watched the Seahawks players climb onto their buses before riding to the stadium for their Sunday road games.

That afternoon they would play their most dangerous game and I couldn’t help wondering which players would finish the day healthy or hurt, or even hospitalized.

Every game, they put their lives and livelihoods on the line the way athletes in most other sports never do, and I’ve always admired their grace under that enormous pressure.

Football is a violent game, and the players of the NFL accept that fact every day when they run onto the practice field, every Sunday when they board their buses and every game day when they collide at high speeds and with intimidating intent.

In the past few years, groundbreaking research has led to an increased awareness of the dangers and the long-term physical costs for the players who play this game.

We now know that the effects of the thunderous hits we see on Sunday might not fully be realized by the players absorbing those hits until later decades. The hits they take in their 20s can lead to serious health issues in their 40s and 50s.

NFL players are dying young. They are suffering from ALS, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Some former players’ suicides have been linked to head trauma they suffered while playing in the NFL.

To its credit, the league has begun paying serious attention to the damage that can be done from head trauma. Finally, the seriousness of concussions is being addressed. We no longer hear jokes on the air about a player “getting his bell rung.”

But now the league is struggling to find the answer to a complicated riddle.

The NFL, which has celebrated the violence in its game because that violence is so much a part of football’s attraction, is trying to find a way to legislate against the most violent helmet-to-helmet hits. A 15-yard penalty, or a five-figure fine, aren’t enough.

Last weekend, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison knocked two Cleveland Browns out of the game.

Atlanta’s Dunta Robinson hit Philadelphia receiver DeSean Jackson and both were on the ground after the play. Jackson has no memory of the hit.

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The most dangerous strike came from New England safety Brandon Meriweather, who knocked out Baltimore tight end Todd Heap, after the front of Meriweather’s helmet crashed into the left side of Heap’s.

Leavy says he’s haunted by SB XL calls

• News
Saturday, August 7, 2010 – 11:07 pm | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

500px-Super_Bowl_XL.svg[1]

With an unbelievable amount of candor, referee Bill Leavy admitted that he made game-changing mistakes when he officiated Super Bowl XL in February 2006—mistakes that helped propel the Steelers over the Seahawks.

It was immediately branded as one of the worst called Super Bowls in history. The Seattle Times ran a list of six questionable calls that illustrates the frustration on the Seahawks sideline, beyond the frustration with the team’s own performance (see the list below).

Leavy’s comments came during the preseason rounds by the officials to brief players in training camp of new rule changes. Leavy apologized for, in his estimation, two late-stretch calls that helped the Steelers put the game away:

It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better … I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough … When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It’s something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it’s difficult.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren addressed a crowd in Seattle after the loss saying he “didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.” The NFL reviewed his comments, but did not fine him. However, the conspiracy machine was churning so hard, that NFL spokeman Greg Aiello released this statement two days after the game:

The game was properly officiated, including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials.

That, essentially, still rings true. Leavy and his crew failed on a few calls, but it is a part of the game. There were no misapplications of the rules or crew mechanics, so all the calls in question were judgment calls. Good teams are able to overcome bad calls just as much as adverse weather conditions. For instance, a questionable holding penalty can be blamed on the referee, but an interception thrown three plays later also has to balance out the conversation.

The Seattle Times “6 Key Plays”

  • Offensive pass interference nullifies touchdown
  • Dropped pass could have been ruled catch & fumble
  • Replay review upheld Steelers touchdown
  • Touchdown reception denied for contact with pylon
  • Questionable holding call nullifies first-and-goal
  • Illegal block called when it appears there was no contact

Week 12 “Official Review”: ‘Chaos,’ DPI, Pereira’s Xbox 360 video controller

• Calls, Week 12
Thursday, December 3, 2009 – 11:14 am | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

This week’s segment of “Official Review” by NFL vice-president of officiating Mike Pereira (video, part 1 and part 2) provides a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes work of his department and the grading of officials.

We commented a few weeks ago about Pereira’s modded Xbox 360 controller making its on-air debut and wondered why the change from his simple clicker device he used previously. Turns out that is his everyday equipment for reviewing plays. Pereira said that he was hesitant to try the new equipment, but the controller provides the ability to switch camera angles, as each play is reviewed from a minimum of three angles (the first two are nonbroadcast camera angles, the third is the live shot of the play, and additional angles come from television replays).

Pereira demonstrated the grading process for the officials using an ordinary incomplete pass play from the Giants–Broncos game on Thanksgiving. I counted him shuttling the tape more than 25 times to evaluate every player’s actions on the play. We here, and the rest of the Internet critics, focus on the controversial calls, while the officiating department evaluates some 150 plays per game.  Multiply those 150 plays by 256 games for a total of 38,400 plays. If Pereira used an average play for his demonstration—each of those plays getting reviewed 25 times—that means that in a season, his office does 1 million quality checks on its product a year. And, 98% of the time, the call is correct.

It is a very interesting look at the evaluation process, which also includes periodic written tests and other intangibles. You can see the demonstration on the part 2 video. On to the calls on the field:

  • Pereira reviewed the “chaos to the nth degree,” as he aptly put it, of the final seconds of regulation in the Steelers–Ravens game. He backed up all of our points, but noted something that we did not realize. The crew, amazingly, had the foresight to place the specialized kicking ball for a field-goal kick. Pereira said that in rushed circumstances, the crew should not worry about spotting a “K” ball. He also acknowledged that referee Ed Hochuli forgot to mark the spot of the fumble with his beanbag, which might have jogged his memory of the correct spot when he went to retrieve it. Pereira did acknowledge that stopping the clock to conference about the spot would have been an unacceptable advantage to the Ravens.
  • An early-third-quarter play in the Colts–Texans game gave the Colts 43 yards on a pass-interference penalty against the Texans. Pereira’s assessment was that “it was not a good call.”
  • In the Buccaneers–Falcons game, the down-by-contact rule was reviewed that a player cannot be down if the contact preceeded the receiver catching the ball.

Incorrect spot in end-of-regulation scramble could’ve impacted playoff race

• Controversy, Week 12
Monday, November 30, 2009 – 3:23 pm | Comments Off

by Ben Austro

Week 12: Steelers at Ravens

With only moments to think, officials can make decisions based on digesting a 115-page rulebook. On average, 98% of the time they get it right. When there is an error it could have an impact on the game. When divisional foes meet, it could have an impact on the playoffs.

In all fairness, though, even if a bad call occurs, there usually are several opportunities that the affected team did not take advantage of. Much like the weather, the officiating is an element of the game mostly out of the team’s control, but something good teams adapt to.

While most errors are inexcusable, this one has some mitigating circumstances. However, the call is still wrong, and mitigating circumstances do not help officials in their evaluations which determine playoff assignments.

fgspot

Video of fumble and field goal attempt at NFL.com

In a hard-fought divisional game between the Ravens were within long field-goal range against the Steelers near the end of regulation. On third and 9 from the Steelers 34, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco fumbled the ball at the 42, which was recovered by the Ravens at the 37 with 18 seconds remaining. Out of timeouts, the clock was running while a fire-drill substitution of the field-goal personnel ensued.

Headlinesman Mark Hittner came in to mark the dead ball spot at the 37. While that was the correct dead-ball spot, the Ravens should have gotten the ball at the 42, the spot of the fumble. (The responsibility for the spot goes to the head referee, officially.) Sunday Night Football announcer Al Michaels, after the fact, did call attention to this.

NFL Rulebook 8–7–6: If a fumble by either team occurs after the two-minute warning:

(a) The ball may be advanced by any opponent.

(b) The player who fumbled is the only player of his team who is permitted to recover and advance the ball.

(c) If the recovery or catch is by a teammate of the player who fumbled, the ball is dead, and the spot of the next snap is the spot of the fumble, or the spot of the recovery if the spot of the recovery is behind the spot of the fumble.

Fortunately for Ed Hochuli’s crew, the field goal attempt was two yards short.

I do seem to remember a game in the last five years or so where the ball was spotted incorrectly before a field goal. (I’m looking for it; if you remember, put it in the comments.) Having realized the mistake, the officials wiped out the down, respotted the ball, and the field goal was taken five yards closer. Had there been a field goal from 56 yards, you can imagine the uproar if the officials salted the down to respot for a 61-yard field goal.

So while there was a major error, there are other circumstances that need to be considered:

  • If there was a conference regarding the spot of the ball, Hochuli would have had to call an official’s timeout. This would have given the Ravens time to line up a field goal, which (we’ll never know) could have been an advantage on a 61-yard field-goal attempt.
  • During the mass substitution, officials had to count that there were 11 players on the field. (Offense is counted by the umpire, line judge and headlinesman; defense by the side judge, field judge and back judge.)
  • The field judge and back judge had to position themselves under the uprights for the kick.
  • The line judge and headlinesman were watching for the offense to be set for a full second prior to a snap.
  • The headlinesman was on the Steelers sideline, so it was possible that the coach could have signaled a timeout prior to the kick.

However, as the vice-president of officiating will probably tell us in his weekly “Official Review” video, having too much to think about is not an acceptable excuse. Fortunately, the spot of the ball did not have a determination on the final score or playoff seedings.

For Ochocinco, $1 equals $20,000

• Discipline, Week 9
Sunday, November 15, 2009 – 12:23 pm | 1 Comment

by Ben Austro

Week 9: Ravens at Bengals

While on the sideline during a replay review, the Bengals’ Chad Ochocinco jokingly waived a $1 bill at an official. The league sees this as no laughing matter. Ochocinco was fined $20,000 for the incident. (He was not penalized in the game for those actions.)

As Chris Mortensen of ESPN first reported, an anonymous league contact said the league treated this as if it was serious:

The integrity of the game is critical to us. Making light of bribing and gambling will not be taken lightly. His action in itself merited the fine but he acknowledged by his comments that he knew what he was doing.

Officially, the league executive vice president of football operations, Ray Anderson, stated Ochocinco was fined for the following:

Abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures toward game officials. He was also in violation of Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 (f) of the Playing Rules which prohibits possession or use of extraneous objects that are not part of the uniform during the game on the field or sideline.

The $20,000 fine is listed by the league’s 2009 Schedule of Fines as “verbal or other non-physical offense against [an] official.” The second offense is $40,000.

Ochocinco seems undeterred, as he hinted at some kind of stunt planned for the Week 10 contest against the Steelers. From the Ocho Cinco News Network, otherwise known as his Twitter page:

Wait till you see what I do in Pittsburgh. Remember, I set aside fine fund before the season started; I’m just starting.

We’ll be watching.

Update 11/16/09: Two receptions for 29 yards. Meh.

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