Comments on: 5 Smoldering Questions on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Week 15

By: El Dr. de Acero

El Dr. de Acero — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 02:18:21 +0000

In reply to El Dr. de Acero.

I meant “non polished English” (although, is true, my English is not from Poland)

And thank you, Hombre de Acero, for your welcome.

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By: hombredeacero

hombredeacero — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 21:18:53 +0000

In reply to El Dr. de Acero.

Welcome Dr. de Acero. You bring up a good point.

After the game, “Matt C. Steel” said on Jim Wexell’s website that the reversal fueled his suspicion that the league wanted the game to go into overtime for financial reasons.

You don’t normally here people on professional sites talking that way.

And it reminded me of something that a local (Argentine) sports journalist said to me before the last World Cup. (I won’t mention his name here, but I will say he works for FOX Sports Argentina). At the time, Argentina looked to be in danger of not making the World Cup. The journalist looked at me, tilted his head and said, “FIFA knows how popular Messi is. Do you think that FIFA is going to allow Argentina to not make the cup….?”

The example of the Jesse James call, along with the others that Ed Bouchette highlights, shows how Roger Goodell is eroding the integrity of the game. This “What’s a catch and what’s not a catch” was a rule that the NFL developed to justify a bad call made against Calvin Johnson that cost him a touchdown a few years ago, similar to the “Tuck rule” that justified the fact that the refs overruled a Tom Brady fumble as an incomplete pass that was, as everyone knows, a fumble (he touched the ball with his other hand, for Christssakes.)

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By: hombredeacero

hombredeacero — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 21:09:48 +0000

In reply to El Dr. de Acero.

Gus! Sumaste a final. Ahora tenemos que convencer Carlos de Mexico de juntar!

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By: ebarrett

ebarrett — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 19:49:57 +0000

2. While it would make me feel good to accuse the NFL of being up to no good. I don’t think that’s the case. Instead, I believe the (shocking) inconsistency of Riveron actually shows he’s being influenced by simple psychology. Whenever we’re faced with making a choice, our brains have to sift through vast amounts of information. In an ideal situation we’d have enough time to weigh all our options, discard bad information, and come up with the “right” answer. But this is live TV, and “time is money.” So Riveron only has a few minutes to make a decision. This leads him to take mental shortcuts (see: primacy & recency effects as illustrations)

He doesn’t have the rules directly in front of him (or so I believe). Therefore he has to “remember” them. And because we remember poorly under pressure (if you’ve ever choked on a test, and then later remembered the answer, you know exactly what I’m talking about), he is inconsistent in what he remembers. And because “consistency” is not important to Roger Goodell (good TV, revenue, and “the Shield” matter to him), we get messes like this.

6. We aren’t the Bengals. Tomlin is a resilient coach. The Steelers are a resilient team. I think they’ll be ready to make a deep playoff push. Now will they be able to overcome their shortcomings as a team AND the NFL? That remains to be seen.

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By: El Dr. de Acero

El Dr. de Acero — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 15:49:10 +0000

Hi, everyone. (First of all a would like to apologize for my “non academic or non polish” english)
1- I think that the NFL has a huge problem with this rule. It is against the nature of the game. If you need miles in explanations and different opinions abiut only one issue, something goes wrong. It need to be changed.
It’s the New England Patriots the best seller team in the entire NFL? It is like Real Madrid, or Barcelona in La Liga? I think it could be. So if you need a reasons for overturned rulings on the field in favor of the Pats, there you have one.
4 – The rule says:
“If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass [THIS IS THE CASE] (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball until after his initial contact with the ground [HE CATCHES THE BALL FIRMLY UNTIL AFTER HIS INITIAL CONTACT WITH HIS KNEE IN THE FIELD, NOT THE ENDZONE], whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground [HE NEVER LOSES CONTROL OF THE BALL AND THE BALL NEVER TOUCHES THE GROUND BEFORE IT BRAKES THE GOAL LINE PLANE. TOUCHDOWN. END OF THE PLAY. WHY IS NOT THIS THE END OF THE PLAY?] before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete”

5 – No, Ben should never throw an INT. Going for it is a valid decision. A dangerous one thoug. In the begining, I wanted to know who made that call ( I was really… let’s say frustrated because i am an educated man) I think Coach Tomlin asume the responsability of that call wheter it was or it wasn’t his decision.

6 – Mr Raul Alegre (Kicker of the Baltimore Colts superbowl champion) from ESPN en español wrote a column in the same direction Wexell took first. I disagree. This team showed caracter and toughness of spirit in diferent moments of the season. It doen’t mean that they going to beat the Pats in postseason, but they could certainly do.

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By: parsonpriem

parsonpriem — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 15:37:42 +0000

4. In this Brave New World we live in you can google the actual rules, which make no reference to “surviving the catch” or maintaining possession for “the entire process of going to the ground.” These are phrases the league officials have made up to justify an interpretation of the rule that it is contradictory to the wording actually in the rule book that the player must maintain possession until “after initial contact.” You can argue that they made the right call based on the “survive the catch” principle, which is fairly widely known to be the de facto standard, but it’s hard to argue how this interpretation is derived from the actual rule and if you can’t explain a call with the wording used in the rule book, it’s technically the wrong call even if it is precedented. Of course, there’s the whole matter of the inconsistency of applying their made up interpretation as well…

5. The fake spike probably wasn’t the best idea. Really everything after the TD reversal was more chaotic and less planned than it should’ve been, but it happens. Otherwise it was a great game by the coaches and there’s no point in recriminations.

6. People act like it’s the end of the world because we’ll probably end up with only the #2 seed. WE JUST HAVE TO BEAT TWO CRAPPY TEAMS TO CLINCH THE TWO SEED! Sure, it would’ve been nice to have home field advantage throughout, but it’s not like we haven’t had our share of luck this year with not having to play Aaron Rodgers or DeShaun Watson, good health for the most part, and how many close wins? After going toe to toe with New England without AB, I’m convinced that with AB the Steelers are the best team in the league. It might be interesting to see whether home field advantage or having AB makes more of a difference if we meet New England again in the playoffs, but that’s a long way off right now. As we’ve seen, anything can happen. Right now, the key is for players and coaches to take out their frustration on Houston instead of wallowing in it and coming out flat on the road against a Houston team that’s mad after getting humiliated by Jacksonville.

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By: parsonpriem

parsonpriem — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 15:19:54 +0000

In reply to Ivan F Cole.

Spot on with 1, 5, and 6

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By: steelmn

steelmn — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 15:07:11 +0000

In reply to steelmn.

One thing about this controversy that irks me is the silence coming from the Steelers Ownership. There is unprecedented outcry about the absurdness and inconsistency of the rulings coming out of league headquarters. Bouchette brought up the facts indicating the only consistency in Riveron’s calls is that they benefit the Patriots. This would be a good time for an owner to speak up as the league is reeling from controversy and low ratings, yet silence from the Rooneys. Who are they afraid of? The Steelers have been hammered by the league and officiating for at least the last decade yet the Rooneys refuse to voice any dissatisfaction.

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By: A. Nonny Mouse

A. Nonny Mouse — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 15:06:00 +0000

4. ‘Twas a catch, because it wasn’t going to the ground which caused the ball to move, but Jesse’s hand hitting the ground again after extending the ball over the goal line.
5. They were right to go for it. They showed a complete inability to stop the Patriots on their last drive.
6. I think the loss gave the team confidence and motivation. This team is pissed off and can’t wait for a rematch.

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By: Ivan F Cole

Ivan F Cole — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 14:40:27 +0000

1. It would be one thing if I could reason that this was my sour grapes reaction to a tough Steelers loss, but I’m not Nostradamus. Yet you would think so based on what I wrote nearly a week in advance of the game. Viewed in this sense the ambiguity of the rule allows for the possibly of New York to influence the outcome of games. As Tunch Ilkin pointed out, the outcome of the play was totally uncontroversial to teams (no complaints from the Pats, just resignation) or game officials. It is one thing to have an unfortunate outcome of this nature, quite another when you can predict the occurrence IN ADVANCE!! Based upon past experience.

2&3. Yes, and (predictably) questions are being raised about corruption. There are only two credible options here; incompetence or something far worse. Next prediction: The Cover Up. Nice job NFL.

4. Even if you believe that the play was within the letter of the rule (which I don’t), the evidence didn’t rise to level to justify a reversal.

5. The decision was consistent with Tomlin’s personality as a coach, and was no less controversial than the decision to run Bell in San Diego in 2015.

6. I’m not scared of the Patriots. We can beat anywhere. Whether we can beat them and the league in tandem is another matter.

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