Steelers Beat Colts

NFL: Polamalu overturned interception the wrong call

The NFL said the referee made a mistake: Troy Polamalu caught the ball.

The league acknowledged Monday that referee Pete Morelli erred when he overturned on replay Polamalu's interception of a Peyton Manning pass Sunday in the playoff game between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis.

Mike Pereira, the league's vice president of officiating, said in a statement that Morelli should have upheld the call, made with 5:26 left in Pittsburgh's win over the Colts.

"He maintained possession long enough to establish a catch," Pereira said. "Therefore, the replay review should have upheld the call on the field that it was a catch and fumble."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/news/story?id=2294309

Al least Baltimore had the decency to give Cleveland back the name, colors and uniform unlike other cities.

Who are you kidding? You really wanted to keep that name and those uniforms? They couldn't GIVE them away! (lol)

That's the sorry state of the NFL today.

You can say that again! We here in the 'burgh had our OWN Plan B shoved down our throats when we voted against it!

ping to post 62

Then the whole league is a farce, because Tampa should have beat the Redskins. I used the same explanation that they gave for that game. Maybe the NFL needs to go to a College style replay having it up in the box with more than one guy looking at it, unless the NFL wants to have 1 guy to be able to scapegoat.

If you want to know what the rule is watch NFL Network channel 212 on directtv on wendsday. The head officiating will be on like he always after ever week to explain calls, this call was explained lastweek.

The NFL has now admitted the officials made a mistake - and it should have been an interception. This is almost unprecedented.

If Pittsburg had lost that game, the scandal brewing would have been huge.

I thought you should read this from today's New York Post.

Excerpt:

___________________________________________________________________________

January 17, 2006 -- INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL admitted its mistake yesterday, and conceded what should have been the decisive moment in the Steelers-Colts playoff game was in fact every bit as much of a foul-up as everyone believed it was. With 5 minutes and 26 seconds left in Sunday's AFC Divisional Playoff Game, with the Colts desperate to bite into Pittsburgh's 21-10 lead, Peyton Manning threw a wounded quail toward the center of the field, right into the octopus-like arms of Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. On the field, it was ruled an interception. Across America, millions of people, studying the play from 78 different angles, backed it up.

Several hours (sic - minutes) later, referee Pete Morelli emerged from his video monitor and delivered a most improbable message: It wasn't an interception. It was the Colts' ball. Indianapolis' season hadn't just died; it would in fact keep breathing right until an idiot kicker shanked a ball so far right it landed in Logansport.

......................But it shouldn't be put to sleep. Because it is impossible to calculate just what kind of a firestorm the NFL invited upon itself with the way that whole silliness played itself out. The Steelers might have seemed like the happiest people in North America Sunday when Mike Vanderjagt kicked the ball sideways. But it was nothing compared to the joy that was coursing through the NFL's Manhattan headquarters.

For if the Colts had ended up advancing to the AFC Championship Game, one word would have proliferated in every corner of the country where the NFL is a daily narcotic. And it is the ugliest word in all of sports.

Fix. _______________________________________________________________________________

Sorry - I just realized you won't be able to read the whole article unless you had a password and are registered with the NY Post. Here is a crucial part of this story:

Afterward, they threw out some shameful double-talk football explanations, talking about the "performing of an act common to the game," which sounds vaguely pornographic, when what they should have said was, "We couldn't possibly have screwed this up worse." Yesterday, a day later, we got something approaching that. We got Mike Periera, the NFL's vice president of officiating, saying, "The replay review should have upheld the call on the field that it was a catch and fumble." And with that, the NFL hopes this whole messy little matter can be put to sleep.