Just when it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense got a big stop to open the second half, holding the Philadelphia Eagles to a field goal from kicker Jake Elliott, a flag was thrown on veteran Steelers defensive tackle Montravius Adams on the play.
The penalty? Roughing the long snapper.
On a day in which officiating was a mess throughout, and a number of calls seemingly went against the Steelers, the roughing-the-long-snapper penalty on Adams from referee Alan Eck’s crew seemed to be the cherry on top.
Adams, who had lined up over left guard Jack Driscoll, shot into the A-gap at the snap of the ball and tried to elevate to search for a blocked field goal, something the Steelers have had quite a bit of success doing this season.
In the process, Adams was seemingly blocked into Eagles long snapper Rick Lovato, barreling through him in the process. That led to the flag, extending the Eagles’ drive despite Elliott making the field goal try.
Fortunately for the Steelers, their defense was able to get another quick stop after the 15-yard penalty and held the Eagles to a field goal in the end, making it a 20-13 game on a night that ultimately ended in a 27-13 loss. That call, though, was one many were upset with.
But for former NFL referee and current CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, who appeared on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show Tuesday, it was the correct call on Adams.
“Yeah, there’s been a lot of talk to this, and really with training tapes as this season goes on, and you see things start to increase in the behaviors, or something is trending a certain way and that has been something that has started to become a little more of an issue,” Steratore said of the Adams penalty and how the league is seemingly emphasizing it, according to audio via 102.5 WDVE. “I think as games have gone on and weeks have gone on and the players know that, look, you can’t line up within the framework of the center on field goals, punt, special teams plays like that because the center’s head many times is down looking through his legs.
“He is in a defenseless posture because his head’s not up, he doesn’t see what’s coming. So we’re outside of the framework of the center at the snap. You’ve gotta give him this window of opportunity to get himself back upright and be able to defend himself.”
It’s certainly understandable why there are protections in place for long snappers, as Steratore laid out.
But on the play with Adams, it appeared pretty clear on replay that Driscoll ended up blocking Adams — who did attack the A-gap — into Lovato, causing Adams to barrel through Lovato while trying to get his hand up to attempt a field goal block.
It wasn’t as if Adams rammed his way through Lovato on his own, or intentionally. He lined up in a proper position based on the rule book, behind outside of the long snapper’s shoulders, and he attacked the A-gap directly. The Driscoll block appears to send him into Lovato, who ends up on his butt.
Here’s a look at the replay from the broadcast.
It’s understandable that the league wants to protect long snappers because they are in vulnerable positions with their heads down, but Adams attacked the A-gap as he’s taught in these situations, just like Dean Lowry did next to him.
It looks like Adams was blocked into Lovato, and it’s hard to be convinced otherwise.
But Steratore was adamant that officials made the right call, especially as the league has reportedly put an emphasis on cleaning up these types of plays.
“It’s all the NFL players and everything they do, it’s why it’s so amazing. They’ll take it right to that edge and now they’ll start to shoot the A-gap. And inevitably what started to happen here is they kind of shoot the A- gap, but it’s a little 20% of it’s leaning more toward the center. So my thigh or my knee actually gets into the center’s head as I’m just going through the A-gap,” Steratore said. “And we all know that some of those guys, their thighs are as big as Volkswagens, you know? You’re lifting that leg and you’re making significant contact on the center, so they’re really, really focusing on getting that cleaned up again.
“So sometimes when those types of conversations or training tape situations are shown, the message is clear.”
The message might be clear for officials on what needs cleaned up or emphasized, but the Adams penalty was the first one called on the Steelers all season, and it came at a pivotal juncture in the game.
We’ll see if the league continues to emphasize that type of play moving forward, or if it was just a one-off in a game filled with questionable calls.
