TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Steelers linebacker Larry Foote pleads with an official late in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 31-29 loss to Jacksonville Jan. 5, 2008 at Heinz Field.
Christopher Horner/TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Linebackers Larry Foote and James Harrison came off as whiners, carping as they did about the officiating after a blown lead against Jacksonville had ushered the Steelers out of the NFL playoffs.
But that doesn't mean they didn't have a legitimate complaint.
Particularly in the wake of what had happened to center Sean Mahan.
Mahan was flagged for holding on what would have been a two-point conversion to wide receiver Hines Ward that would have brought the Steelers to within 28-25 with 10:25 remaining Saturday night at Heinz Field.
Mahan said following the Steelers' 31-29 loss that he didn't think he held Jaguars defensive tackle Derek Landri on the play.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hinted in his postgame press conference that he didn't think Mahan held Landri, either.
Some further review a couple days later showed Landri being engaged initially by left guard Alan Faneca and Mahan before Faneca turned his attention elsewhere and Mahan executed what appeared to be a perfectly legal cut-block.
The yellow flag flew, anyway.
That cost the Steelers two points initially, and three if you factor in that they would have kicked the extra point rather than go for two again the next time they scored had the phantom hold against Mahan not been conjured up.
What cost them even more was the same officiating crew's inability to detect multiple holding penalties on Jacksonville -- the very object of Foote and Harrison's disdain and outrage -- approximately eight minutes later.
Fast-forward to the Jaguars' fourth-and-two snap from the Steelers' 43 with 1:56 remaining, and then watch the video in slow motion.
At least two, and perhaps as many as four, holding penalties somehow went unnoticed, depending on whether the Mahan standard is applied.
Quarterback David Garrard bolted between left tackle Khalif Barnes and left guard Vince Manuwai, through a gap that might have been adequately defended by Harrison had Barnes not executed a perfectly illegal hold on the Steelers' MVP.
Strong safety Troy Polamalu (by tight end Marcedes Lewis), defensive end Brett Keisel (by Manuwai) and nose tackle Casey Hampton (by right guard Maurice Williams) also were impeded, seemingly with varying degrees of illegality.
Not one flag flew this time.
A request to the NFL for clarification/comment was met by an explanation that the league does not comment on "judgment calls."
It's just as well.
The inconsistency of referee Scott Green's split crew spoke for itself.
That's not to suggest the officials ultimately dictated the outcome all by themselves.
It's the responsibility of every team to put itself in a position where such calls or non-calls can't influence the final decision.
This one's still on the Steelers much more than it is the zebras.
But, that said, the NFL ought to demand better of itself and its officials.
Especially on a weekend when only four games are being played and everyone is watching.
If the league devoted as much time and energy to cleaning up its officiating as it does fining those who dare to speak their minds while assessing the performance of the striped shirts, it would spend a lot less time and energy monitoring who's saying what about the officials in the first place.
And the Steelers would come off sounding like the post-Super Bowl Seahawks much less frequently.
Mike Prisuta can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.
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