Did Officials Make Right Call Nullifying Wheaton Touchdown Against Panthers?

The Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to have taken a 10-3 second-quarter lead over the Carolina Panthers when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger delivered a perfect pass to second-year receiver Markus Wheaton at the edge of the end zone.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, the officials ruled that Wheaton had stepped out of bounds and did not reestablish himself before making the catch.

The Steelers were forced to settle for a field goal.

Replay did show that Wheaton's foot brushed the sideline just before he turned and caught the football in front of the defender.

However, Wheaton did manage to get both feet in the end zone while making the catch, which would seem to be enough to reestablish positioning in bounds.

By reestablishing himself after stepping out of bounds, Wheaton should have become an ineligible receiver. The Steelers should have been assessed a five-yard penalty and given another 3rd-and-goal opportunity.

SportingCharts.com provides a fantastic explanation of the illegal-touching rule:

"

If the player voluntarily goes out of bounds, they are no longer able to compete in the play. This is to prevent a player from running through the bench, security personal, etc. in order to get open in bounds.  If the player is pushed or shoved out of bounds they must re-enter field of play with both feet to re-establish themselves as an eligible receiver.  For this to happen the officials must deem that the player was shoved out. 

"

The officials obviously decided that Wheaton stepped out of bounds voluntarily, so nullifying the touchdown was the right call, by rule. However, the call doesn't take into account the entire play.

While cornerback Marvin White did not push Wheaton out of bounds, he did guide him there while the two were running into the end zone. According to Mike Pereira, former vice president of NFL officiating, that's enough interference to warrant a penalty against the defense.

So the officials didn't make a mistake by taking away the score. The real mistake was that the officials moved on to fourth down instead of assessing one of the two penalties that actually occurred on the play.

Either one would have given Pittsburgh another shot at a touchdown, making the ruling here a potentially game-changing one.