[Perdogg]

On the first drive, 3rd and goal - why wasn’t Pittsburgh called for “assisting the runner” ?

[Badeye]

A question my SB party talked about all night afterwards.

[b4its2late]

I don’t know. I have never seen it called in a Pro game and I only called it once myself in a school game at a lower level. The one I called was blatant, a kid grabbed the runner and pulled him into the end zone.

[Nachum]

There were plenty of blown calls. How about Harris roughing up a blocker after the play? He should have been thrown out of the game. I can’t blame the refs too much. The play was chippy.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

WHY WAS THE LAST PLAY NEVER REVIEWED?

[TennTuxedo]

I can’t remember the last time, when I saw that called by the officials.

[capydick]

My 13 year old son even caught that but - he was rooting for the Stillers anyway.

[MarineBrat]

On the first drive, 3rd and goal - why wasn’t Pittsburgh called for “assisting the runner” ?

I'm not sure you're receptive to this, but I will tell you what would have happened had Pittsburgh been called for "assisting the runner."

The touchdown would have been nullified, the Steelers would have taken a penalty, and then they'd have gotten another shot at a 3rd down touchdown. A penalty was not called, which doesn't surprise me because I've never seen it called in all of the many hundreds of NFL games I've witnessed, and so the touchdown counted. Except that then upon review the touchdown was nullified, and the Steelers had to settle for 3.

So the Cards got a break.

[wolfcreek]

I noticed, in college, the whole line can get behind the runner and basically push them into the end zone. (no penalty)

That one last night almost looked like a semi-handoff.

[Loud Mime]

You brought up a good point...a team assisting its runner. The NFL needs to address this problem.

Either make it legal or call the penalty.

[death2tyrants]

I agree with the other posters, I don’t remember that ever being called in the pros. In fact, I don’t remember seeing any 3’rd and 1 or 4’th and 1 where there isn’t assistance. It’s usually three or four offensive players pushing the ball carrier forward while three or four defensive players are pushing the ball carrier backwards. Instead of a tug-of-war, its more of a push-of-war with the ball carrier being sandwiched in the middle. On the first drive of the SB, it looked like the O-lineman initially slowed Bens momentum forward by running into him.