Of the many officiating controversies in the Steelers’ loss to the Eagles, one stands out as a glaring error. Inexplicably, the NFL failed to penalize the Eagles after a scrum in which at least two Philadelphia players threw punches. The officials managed to flag multiple Steelers players, but none against the Eagles to offset.
Former NFL official Gene Steratore talked about that sequence and seemed to refute the league’s explanation. In a pool report, the head official insisted the NFL saw no evidence of punches by the Eagles. But Steratore insisted, while discussing the Steelers-Eagles game, that “They have access to all the angles”.
Now, it’s worth noting that the broadcast never showed a conclusive replay of the scrum. Based exclusively on what they showed live of the Steelers and Eagles, it’s not overwhelmingly obvious that any punch was thrown. We don’t see the punch Darius Slay threw while grappling with Darnell Washington. We do get a look at Quinyon Mitchell and Calvin Austin III, but the “punch” is muted. If you’re not looking for it, you could miss it.
It was only through a fan video that we know with certainty that Eagles players threw punches at Steelers players. But as Steratore implies, the NFL has access to more than just what they showed on the broadcast. And he talked a lot about the NFL’s “philosophy” about how it officiates such circumstances, which isn’t by the letter.
“When you have these skirmishes, the philosophy is, ‘Look, let’s get the first one so it becomes more of a deterrent. We don’t want them offsetting where everybody thinks they got free swings’”, Steratore said in discussing the incident between the Steelers and Eagles. But he also suggested this one was different.
“In most of those cases, you do end up having offsetting fouls. Because there was a second action [in the Steelers-Eagles game] that was separate from the initial one. And as much as sometimes you don’t like doing it on the field for offsetting, you have to, because of the flavor of it”.
Steratore is referring to the Austin interaction with Mitchell, which resulted in the Eagles DB punching the Steelers WR. Austin joked that they must have flagged only him because he is the biggest player (he is not).
So what exactly happened here? Did the NFL really miss the punches the Eagles players threw at the Steelers? Some suggested that they lacked all available video angles, but Steratore refutes that once they go to replay assist. “New York does get involved and have access to all cameras”, he reiterated.
The resulting 15-yard infraction turned a 2nd and 3 for the Steelers at the Eagles’ 4 into a 2nd and 18 at the 19. Rather than having an excellent chance at a touchdown, they settled for a field goal. That tied the game, but it was nearly the last time they would be close.
