Festivus, the secular holiday from the popular 1990s sitcom Seinfeld, isn’t for another 16 days. But Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh didn’t bother waiting to air his grievances against the officiating from the Week 14 matchup versus Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After the Steelers held on to beat the Ravens 27-22, Harbaugh took issue with several pivotal calls in the game.
“The explanation was a third foot didn’t get down before the ball came out,” Harbaugh said of tight end Isaiah Likely’s nullified score. “That’s what they said.”
Likely appeared to tally the go-ahead touchdown with 2:47 remaining in regulation. But Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. knocked the ball loose from Likely at the very end of the play.
Replay review concluded Porter’s knock out happened before the Ravens tight end completed “a football move.”
The Ravens turned the ball over on downs three plays later. They were unable to score on the final possession of the game as well.
Tomlin stated in his postgame press conference that he ultimately thought the officiating crew made the correct call on Likely’s non-touchdown.
“I did not [think it was a touchdown]. I know sometimes in an effort to get it right, they will signal it a touchdown and give it the benefit of a review,” said Tomlin. “But no, I didn’t think it was a touchdown.”
John Harbaugh Disagrees With Aaron Rodgers Near Interception
The Likely non-touchdown was hardly the only controversial call in the 39th edition of the Tomlin-Harbaugh rivalry. On the Pittsburgh drive prior to the Ravens turnover on downs, quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a pass deflected back to himself on second-and-10.
Officials originally ruled Ravens linebacker Teddye Buchanan intercepted the tipped pass, wrestling the ball away from Rodgers. But after replay review, the officiating crew ruled Rodgers had simultaneous possession of the ball with his knee down.
Rodgers’s knee down, thus, ended the play before Buchanan completed the interception.
A reporter asked Harbaugh if he thought Likely’s drop should have been ruled a touchdown. The Ravens head coach essentially avoided the question, and instead attacked the ruling on the non-interception.
“I believe a lot of things. I think the Aaron Rodgers play, I mean, we’re talking about the rules here, it’s not an officiating issue. It’s coming from New York,” Harbaugh said. “When you’re making a catch, you have to survive the ground. He didn’t survive the ground. He’s not down by contact. He was catching the ball on the way down with another person. So you have to make the catch to survive the ground.
“I don’t know why it was ruled the way it was on that one. All of those things, I’m sure, they will explain to us. But they had plenty of time to look at it, and they’re the ones that are the experts on the rules, so that’s how it works.”
With both Likely’s non-touchdown and Buchanan’s non-interception, the officiating crew overturned their original calls. In each case, the Steelers benefitted from the overturns.
Harbaugh Also Takes Issue With Pivotal First-Half Ravens Penalty
The Ravens head coach also received a question about a controversial Baltimore penalty in the first half. While it took place much earlier in the game, it had just as big of an impact as either of the fourth quarter overturned reviews that went against the Ravens.
Steelers kicker Chris Boswell made a 32-yard field goal with 6:13 remaining in the second quarter. But Ravens defensive lineman Travis Jones committed an unnecessary roughness penalty on the attempt, which awarded the Steelers a first down.
Pittsburgh scored a touchdown on the very next play. While the Ravens had an opportunity to still prevent a touchdown, the penalty was a four-point difference in a game that ended in a five-point Steelers victory.
Harbaugh suggested the foul shouldn’t have been called.
“I didn’t see head and neck contact. That’s what I did not see,” Harbaugh said. “You need to have head and neck area contact there, and it’s got to be forceful contact. Not incident contact. I didn’t see any contact myself.”
Had the Steelers scored a field goal and not a touchdown on the first-half possession, the Ravens would have only trailed by one in the fourth quarter. That means even without Likely’s touchdown, Baltimore could have taken a late lead with a field goal.
The Ravens also missed an extra point at the end of the first half.
Harbaugh appeared to have some legitimate gripes. But would’ve, could’ve, should’ve won’t change the fact the Steelers won Sunday and moved back into sole possession of first place in the AFC North.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh React to Controversial Calls After Steelers Beat Ravens appeared first on Heavy Sports.