The Pittsburgh Steelers needed Chris Boswell heroics from 60 yards out to escape New York with a win against the Jets. But that left time on the clock for the Jets to attempt a game-winning drive of their own. The end didn’t need to be that stressful if the refs correctly called defensive pass interference on Brandon Stephens as he made contact early with Calvin Austin III.
Aaron Rodgers says they got hosed on the no-call. Former NFL ref Gene Steratore agrees, but he also has a solid explanation of why it may have been missed.
“I think there’s pass interference there,” Steratore said via 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann. “It’s a tough situation to be in for all three refs that would be covering the play based on where their position was, which was the right position by each official. It was a black hole place for that second and a half.
“The deep official on that sideline had that play…He’s looking through the back of both players and doesn’t see the hand in the collar. The back judge in the deep middle of the field who would look at that play inside out has two players literally that are right in front of him that aren’t involved in the play. And then you have the short wing official that would transition to that ball once they got in the air. And I think the same thing happened to that official.”
Refs don’t have the benefit of the television angle. And replay assist doesn’t cover this type of penalty or add flags on the field after the fact. There was no obvious arm extension, and Austin’s path didn’t appear to be significantly disrupted from the perspective of the deep official on the sideline.
Here is the TV replay angle of the play where it’s pretty clear Austin was interfered with. He was unable to turn his body the whole way around to catch the pass because of a subtle grip at the top of his chest plate.
On the other hand, here is the all-22 angle where you can see all the refs involved that Steratore described. I labeled them in numbered order of how Steratore talked about them.
The back judge had a better view than Steratore could remember, but it still would have been a tough thing to spot.
The no-call is understandable, but no less frustrating for Steelers fans. Had Boswell not bailed them out with a 60-yard field goal, this would be getting talked about a whole lot more. Fortunately for Pittsburgh (and the ref crew), Boswell continues to be one of the best kickers in NFL history.
