NFL senior vice president of football sets the record straight following comments from Steelers' Mike Tomlin
The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to escape Monday Night Football with a win heading into a much-needed bye week. But had they lost, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin would have been deeply questioned after a blunder regarding a challenge he threw on a George Pickens overturned TD. You see, Pittsburgh wasn't allowed to challenge and was penalized […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to escape Monday Night Football with a win heading into a much-needed bye week.
But had they lost, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin would have been deeply questioned after a blunder regarding a challenge he threw on a George Pickens overturned TD.
You see, Pittsburgh wasn't allowed to challenge and was penalized via a timeout for doing so.
Well, Mike Tomlin said he was told the wrong information, something a league official pushed back on:
Mike Tomlin Makes Illegal Challenge on George Pickens' TD
“I didn’t know that they used replay assist,” Tomlin told the media after the game when asked why he challenged. “I really wasn’t really clear on why it was ruled a non-touchdown. I went to the flag. Had I known they used replay assist, obviously I wouldn’t have thrown because you’re not allowed to throw when they use replay assist.”
Well, NFL senior vice president of football, Michael Signora, didn't agree with Coach T:
“It was not replay assist, it was an expedited review,” Signora told Steelers Now. “An expedited review is the same as any other review, except that the referee does not come to the tablet. The on-field ruling was a touchdown, so that can only be a booth review. A coach cannot challenge a scoring play, change of possession, or any play after the two minute warning of either half, or in overtime. If a coach does challenge in that situation, it’s a timeout or, if out of timeouts, a 15-yard penalty.”
Regardless of the minutia and semantics, the whole situation was weird to being with. Even QB Russell Wilson thought the play was a TD, with many believing that a right foot touching twice would make up for no left-toe drag.
“It's an interesting rule," Wilson said after the game. "It's like, obviously, we thought maybe he had dragged his toe, maybe he got it down. We get the same foot down twice, and it's clear one and then another one, No. 2, it's almost like you get a knee down, and it counts as a touchdown. And getting two rights feet, maybe it should count. But I don't know. George had a great game. I know obviously he wants those two touchdowns. We all want those — it really would've broken out the game early on for us.”
Well, Russell Wilson's emergence has surely resulted in an offensive emergence thus far, and it only points to reason that Pittsburgh needs another threat on the perimeter, especially when considering the Baltimore Ravens just added a former Pro Bowler who donned the black and gold.
Maybe then, challenges won't even be needed.
