The television broadcast, for more than an entire half of this NFL game, had the incorrect score chyroned right on the screen. Shame on the Columbia Broadcasting System for that; in a multi-billion dollar industry there really is no excuse for such unprofessionalism.
In the waning seconds of the second quarter, Green Bay attempted a field goal from within the Pittsburgh 15 yard-line. Minkah blocked the kick and took it to the house, but Joe Haden was so fast off the line he was flagged for offsides. Watch it again in full-speed so it’s fresh in your mind before we try and digest this:
It was one of those plays where the referee goes “I don’t know what just happened, but it’s gotta be illegal.” Remember Matt Walsh’s reverend/referee character from Semi-Pro trying to process what he had just seen after the first alley-oop in basketball history?
To me, it looks like Haden jumped the snap absolutely perfectly. Unsurprisingly, Haden agrees:
So does officiating guru Gene Steratore, via Twitter:
It looks like the long snapper had a bit of wind up to the snap, where the ball comes up off the ground before it is propelled backwards. The instant that ball moves the play has started and Haden is free to come across the line. As Steratore points out, those two actions appear to occur simultaneously.
As an offensive lineman you can’t sneeze, you can’t scratch your nose, you can’t lift your head or you’ve committed a false start. Steelers fans should remember this little exchange from 2019:
We all remember what else happened in 2019 that made defense and special teams particularly integral for the Steelers piecing together a winning season. Sadly, times aren’t so different now with Ben in the autumn of his playing career.
Back to the matter at hand. At the time of this “infraction” the score was 14-10 GB. They obviously made the re-kick to go up 17-10, but the Packers should have been losing 17-14 when they received the second half kickoff. Nobody can say how that would have affected the remainder of the game, but you can bet the Steelers would have kicked that FG instead of running another swing pass to Najee on fourth down towards the end of the third quarter.
It was a 10-point swing in a game that was decided by 10 points. I’m sure Tomlin and Co. are done thinking about it and are busying themselves with visions of sugarplums and Broncos. As far as I’m concerned, however, the result of this game is officially under protest.
CamBlackburnWrites 