The Pittsburgh Steelers had a blocked field goal on Sunday in their 37-15 win over the New York Jets, and they should’ve also had a blocked extra point after New York’s second touchdown of the game. Minkah Fitzpatrick was flagged for leverage, a call that seemed like the wrong one in the moment, and Mike Tomlin confirmed that he talked to the NFL league office and was told that the play was legal.
“I did talk to New York, and they did tell me Minkah’s block was legal, which I knew in-stadium. But that’s life. None of us are perfect, there’s gonna be mistakes made in-game, there’s strategic mistakes made by me, there’s mistakes made by players, and there’s officiating mistakes. The bottom line is if you’re capable and on your job for 60 minutes, mistakes by others doesn’t define the outcome of games. But it is a shame because that was a significant play by [Fitzpatrick] and it did create a two-point scenario that could’ve changed the texture of how that game was unfolding,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
The ruling on the field came because the officials on the field thought Fitzpatrick was using a Jets blocker to help him leap over the line, but it’s clear watching in slow motion that wasn’t the case and that he just made an impressive play. It’s obviously a difficult call to make in real time on the field, but it was the wrong one by Shawn Smith’s crew, and it sent Danny Smith into a tizzy.
Gene Steratore said it’s a play the NFL puts an emphasis on training officials on because players do try to gain an advantage with leverage, but he also acknowledged that it wasn’t a penalty on Fitzpatrick.
Tomlin said the NFL competition committee is “proceeding with caution” when it comes to using technology and excessive replay review, and that’s why it’s not something that has been implemented for instances like Fitzpatrick’s block as something that can be overturned in the moment.
The Steelers were able to take care of business and win the game, and they got their revenge later with Dean Lowry blocking a field goal. But in the moment, it gave the Jets a two-score lead as the penalty moved the Jets closer and they made the decision to go for two, which they converted.
This is now the second time this season that the league office told Tomlin a penalty called against Fitzpatrick was called incorrectly. Fitzpatrick was also flagged for unnecessary roughness in Week 4, which the league office said was the wrong call. Fitzpatrick seemingly can’t catch a break when it comes to being incorrectly flagged this season, but luckily, unlike the Week 4 penalty, the incorrect call didn’t have a major impact on the game.
And while the Steelers recovered and were able to win in a blowout, it really could’ve been an impactful call. A 15-6 score compared to 13-6 is a big difference given that it makes it a two-score game, and the Steelers got the short end of the stick just because Fitzpatrick made a freaky athletic play. It’s unfortunate, but luckily the incorrect call didn’t matter in the long run.
