Did the Denver Broncos Benefit from a Miss Call that Aided them in Defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers?
The game-winning touchdown that ended the Steelers season this past Sunday could have been called illegal. Denver may have benefited from a miscue that might have changed the entire outcome of the game.
On the final play of the game, the Broncos lined in the shotgun formation with quarterback Tim Tebow and running back Willis McGahee in the backfield. They had two wide receivers lined up on opposite sides of the field, along with two tight ends and the standard five down lineman. If you do the math this equals eleven players, which is the correct number of players allowed on the field.
Take a closer look and you see where the Steelers have an argument for an illegal play. Right before the ball is snapped you can clearly see that Denver only has six men on the line of the scrimmage. This is a violation of a rule that is stated in the NFL rulebook.
According to Rule 7 of the NFL rulebook entitled “Ball in Play, Dead Ball, Scrimmage”, the offensive team must have seven or more players on the line of scrimmage. Here is the link to Rule 7 and its entirety: http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/rulebook/pdfs/10_Rule7_BallInPlay_DeadBall_Scrimm.pdf
Obviously, this is not the sole reason why the Steelers were not victorious, but Denver lined up incorrectly and the play should have been called dead. The NFL and it’s referees may have some explaining to do if bad calls continue to happen this postseason.
I am not saying that these group of officials were bad, I actually thought the game was called pretty well. The fact is however, that one miscall can be the difference between advancing or going home. It is in the best interest of everyone that we have the very best officiating possible for each game.
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What about the two missed face mask calls on the Steelers they clearly grabbed Tebow’s face mask.
How about the inadvertent whistle on the Roethlisberger backward pass? The Broncos recovered and would have been in the red zone but the ref blew his whistle.