Not that you needed any more confirmation, but Mike Pereira, the former Vice President of Officiating for the NFL, was on Fox Sports Daily on Monday and after breaking down the two controversial plays at the end of the Sunday game between the San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs, he basically said that the Pittsburgh Steelers got screwed.
“So the Steeler Nation, you got the real short end of the stick in this game,” started Pereira . “Because even though they went 0-4 to start the season, because of this snafu, they still should have ended up in the playoffs.”
So what does this mean for referee Bill Leavy and the rest of his crew that called the game? Pereira thinks they will be reprimanded.
“They will suffer the consequences,” said Pereira. “Those officials that made those calls are likely not even going to make the playoff pool, so they will suffer the financial consequences of making the mistake and if they make those kinds of mistakes on a continual basis, they’ll get fired as officials do each year.”
On Monday, the NFL issued a statement acknowledging the missed call during the field goal attempt by the Chiefs at the end of regulation to win the game.
With 0:08 remaining in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers, Kansas City faced a fourth-and-12 from the San Diego 23. The Chiefs attempted a 41-yard field that was no good.
On the play, San Diego lined up with seven men on one side of the snapper. This should have been penalized as an illegal formation by the defense.
Rule 9, Section 1, Article 3 (b) (1) of the NFL Rule Book (page 51) states that “No more than six Team B players may be on the line of scrimmage on either side of the snapper at the snap.”
The penalty for illegal formation by the defense is a loss of five yards. This is not subject to instant replay review. Had the penalty been assessed, it would have resulted in a fourth-and-seven from the San Diego 18 with 0:04 remaining, enabling the Chiefs to attempt a 36-yard field goal.
While this changes nothing as far as the Steelers are concerned, maybe Leavy will be fired at the end of the season.
