We've Got A Feeling...

This is the screenshot of the "controversial" touchdown catch. Followed by the actual video and replays.



I watched the Steelers defeat the Ravens yesterday on this last minute touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes. My initial reaction when watching the game live was to call it a touchdown, scream at the refs to call it a touchdown, then scream for Mike Tomlin to throw the challenge flag when the refs declared that it wasn't a touchdown. Then I watched the slow motion replays that confirmed that it was indeed a touchdown.

After review, the referees finally got the call right and awarded the Steelers the touchdown. I watched the final few seconds of the game then went upstairs to help get the kids ready for bed.

A couple of hours later, while watching the Cowboys vs Giants game, they announced that at halftime they would be discussing the "controversy" in the Ravens vs Steelers game. I was a bit shocked. My first thought was, "what controversy?". Little did I know that a full blown controversy had erupted over the officials correcting their call.

I didn't bother to watch the halftime show and actually forgot all about it until this morning when I tuned in to sports radio and they were talking about this "controversy". Two feet in, control of the ball, ball crosses plain of the goal line, which is ANY part of the white line. Looking at the screen shot, can you tell me which part of the ball, if any, ISN'T on or past the white goal line?

Watch it at full speed. Watch it in slow motion. Any way you look at it the result is the same. Touchdown. It's close, but it's definitely a touchdown. I've never seen so much controversy over a ref getting a call right.

Oh wait, yes I did. Big Ben's TD in Superbowl XL. And the Ravens fans are now behaving just like the Seahawks fans did at the time. Blame the refs. Well, just like in Super Bowl XL, in yesterday's game there were a lot of bad calls that did and didn't get called for both teams. That's part of sports. Winners overcome adversity. Losers apparently blame the refs.

The bottom line is that the Ravens (and the Seahawks before them) had probably 100 plays over the course of the game to make things happen for their teams. They failed. Yesterday, the Ravens let the Steelers hang around and hang around and finally the Steelers made them pay. The Ravens defense failed to stop a 92 yard drive with under 3 minutes to play. THAT'S why they lost the game.

UPDATE: NFL backs ruling on Steelers' winning touchdown.