Throughout the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 31-17 loss in the Wild Card Round to the Buffalo Bills, there were quite a few controversial penalties and non-penalties that hindered the Steelers in their quest to upset the No. 2-seeded Bills.
Veteran linebacker Myles Jack had a pair of costly penalties in the fourth quarter on a touchdown drive from the Bills that put the game away, while on a 4th and 3 late in the game wide receiver George Pickens was not only interfered with, but also didn’t get a hands-to-the-face call in press coverage against Buffalo cornerback Dane Jackson, leading to a fiery moment on the sideline.
But the one play that everyone keeps coming back to from Monday’s loss for the Steelers is Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen’s 52-yard touchdown run.
On the play, it was quite clear that Steelers safety Eric Rowe was held at the line of scrimmage by Buffalo offensive lineman O’Cyrus Torrence, allowing Allen to get into the second level. Of course, the Steelers missed a big tackle on the play, allowing Allen to run unimpeded to the end zone, but the missed holding call could have changed things.
Former NFL referee and current CBS analyst Gene Steratore, who appeared on 102.5 WDVE Tuesday morning, stated that the crew missed the holding call, but explained why it may have been missed in the process of the play.
“Yeah, there seemed to be an infraction there. With a breakdown play like that, again, this is not an excuse: I try to officiate plays as if I was still down there and understand what each official’s responsibilities are. When you have pass plays like that, there are five officials of the seven that are looking at receivers and they’re looking at and then trying to look back,” Steratore said, according to audio via 102.5 WDVE. “If they see an illegal contact, they’ve gotta now leave that potential foul and go back to find out where the quarterback is. If he’s in the pocket, the ball just left his hand. There’s a lot of eyes moving.
“So then when they commit to that run, now we’ve gone from a pass-play coverage from an officiating space now to back into the running plays. And if you don’t see the whole thing, you see the second half of it, your instincts tell you that you don’t throw it [the flag]. You’ve only seen the back half of a play. And I think there might have been enough there had they been on top of it from beginning to end.”
From Steratore’s perspective, it is certainly understandable that officials are hesitant to throw a flag, especially if they are seeing the back end of the play. On the scramble play, which ended up in the end zone, it can be hard for officials to go from looking downfield at the receivers and defensive backs, and then needing to turn their attention to other players on the field as the play is breaking down and it’s going from a pass play to a broken play featuring the quarterback running.
The rules change in an instant as the quarterback becomes a runner.
However, each official has his own responsibilities within a play. In the NFL, the umpire is responsible for watching the left side of the offensive line, regardless of it being a run play or a pass play.
The fact that the holding call was missed was egregious. It was rather clear on the live broadcast and then on replay that Torrence was holding Rowe. Now, would Rowe have made the tackle on Allen? That’s up for debate. Maybe Rowe doesn’t change the outcome of the play if he’s not held. There is a possibility of that with Allen’s talent.
But Torrence holding Rowe and impeding him from not only getting off the block but attempting to make a play on the ball carrier in Allen absolutely changed the play. It led to Allen winding up in the end zone 52 yards later for a 21-0 Buffalo lead.
It’s unfair to pin the loss on the missed holding call, but it’s certainly fair to be frustrated with the loss and circle that non-call, along with others, that really hindered the Steelers’ efforts in trying to win a playoff game for the first time since 2016. On the night, Carl Cheffers’ crew called five penalties for 45 yards against the Steelers, while the Bills had just one penalty for nine yards.
Seems rather lopsided, especially in a playoff game. The Bills got some home cooking and have had that happen in their favor quite a bit when Cheffers’ crew is on the call.
