Dids Refs Get Call Right on Crucial Steelers-Browns Play?

The the officials get the call correct on a crucial third-down play between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns on Thursday?

Pittsburgh Steelers HC Mike Tomlin
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after a game against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 22, 2024. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

CLEVELAND — The Thursday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns hinged on a critical call in the fourth quarter, when Browns quarterback Jameis Winston threw up a wobbly pass that ended up hitting his own offensive line.

Two officials dropped flags on the play, and chaos ensued, as the Steelers seemed unsure as to what the call on the field was, before ultimately burning a timeout on defense. 

The officiating crew ended up calling illegal touching on Browns center Ethan Pocic, a five-yard penalty. After much debate, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin decided to take the penalty, choosing a 3rd and 7 at the 30 over a 4th and 2 at the 25. The Browns converted the third down — their first of the night — and went on to win the game.

But did the officials get the call right?

The call of illegal touching was properly meted out. Pocic was an ineligible receiver and was the first to touch the forward pass from Winston, as though Winston was hit by Patrick Queen as he released the pass, Queen did not touch the ball.

What about intentional grounding? That penalty would have been a spot foul all the way back to about the 38-yard line, and been a loss of down, setting up Cleveland for a 4th and 15. Cleveland would have been faced with the choice of that or a 55-yard field goal in the snow, and even if they’d have made it, the Steelers would have had plenty of time left, two timeouts, and only needed a field goal to win the game.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, it’s easy to make the case that Winston’s pass was not intentional grounding, for not one, but two reasons. Let’s start with the definition of intentional grounding, per the NFL rulebook.

“It is a foul for intentional grounding if a passer, facing an imminent loss of yardage because of pressure from the defense, throws a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion. A realistic chance of completion is defined as a pass that is thrown in the direction of and lands in the vicinity of an originally eligible offensive receiver.”

Cleveland offensive lineman Michael Dunn had checked into the game as a sixth lineman, and an eligible receiver before the snap. The Cleveland line shifted to its left as the play developed, and one of then players between Dunn and Pocic was driven backward. They were standing about three feet from one another when the ball was released. The ball clearly landed in the vicinity of an originally eligible receiver.

There’s another facet of the rule, as well. Intention is right there in the rule. When the throwing motion of a passer is impacted by a defender, grounding cannot be called. Winston was hit by Queen after he started his throwing motion, but before he released the ball. His intended target was one of a pair of crossing receivers, 10-15 yards downfield beyond the line of scrimmage. The only reason the ball went to Pocic was that Queen impacted Winston’s throw.

Here’s the appropriate verbiage from that section of the rulebook:

“If contact by an opponent materially affects a passer after the passer begins his throwing motion, it is a forward pass if he passes the ball, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground, a player, an official, or anything else. When this occurs, intentional grounding rules do not apply.”

The NFL confirmed to Pro Football Talk via e-mail on Friday that the call was made correctly:

“In terms of intentional grounding, the quarterback was contacted, impacting the throw, and the crew confirmed that No. 68 had reported as eligible, and he was in the vicinity.”

So it appears clear that the call was made correctly on the field, but it was only made after a lengthy deliberation between the officiating crew. During that time, and even after the call was announced twice, it did not ever appear that the Steelers were aware of what was being called.

“I thought it was a grounding initially,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “I couldn’t hear the officials. I thought it was a grounding. When I realized that it wasn’t ruled a grounding, I got information from them and made the call that we wanted to make. The distance was more important to us. If it wasn’t grounding, we were moving them five yards back. They were potentially kicking into the wind, so we wanted to stop them and make the field goal a longer one.”

When the Steelers finally decided to accept the penalty, they weren’t ready to play. Tomlin called a timeout, and Steelers defensive playcaller Patrick Queen came to the sideline with his arms out. 

“The refs said 4th and 2, then going back to 4th and 7, then 3rd and 7, just a whole bunch of chaos,” Queen said. “Everybody was trying to find out what the down and distance was.”

So while it seems that the officials did get the call correctly, if the call had been made more concisely and clearly, it might’ve saved the Steelers confusion and a timeout.

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