The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 11-10, on Sunday. And that result was enough to make NFL history.
The final score was the first of its kind in 12,837 games. What makes this even more interesting is that it really shouldn't have been the final outcome.
With five seconds left and San Diego trailing by one, Philip Rivers completed a pass to LaDainian Tomlinson, who then pitched it to Chris Chambers. Chambers tried to toss it backwards to another teammate, but Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu batted it away before scooping it and taking it into the end zone.
Originally ruled a touchdown for the Steelers, a replay overturned the call on the field, as the official claimed there was an illegal forward pass. Since the play would have been dead the moment San Diego committed the illegal pass, the score was disallowed and the final score remained 11-10.
However, referee Scott Green said the officials realized afterwards that the call on the field should have stood. Of course, this was too late. The 11-10 final was indeed the official score.
To those on the sidelines, and to most fans, whether the Steelers won by one point or seven (or eight, had the Steelers kicked an extra point) did not matter. As they so often say in sports, a win is a win.
But to many sports gamblers, a win is not always a win. The point spread for the game in most casinos had Pittsburgh between a 3.5 and five-point favorite. So the non-touchdown as time expired was the difference between a Steelers cover and a Chargers cover.
Casinos, as expected, honored the 11-10 result and paid those who bet on the Chargers and took the points and did not pay those who bet on Pittsburgh. It created an interesting scene in some sportsbooks.
Robert Kowalski, a supervisor at the sportsbook in the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, said there were a lot of Steelers fans watching at his sportsbook.
"At first the ref shows a touchdown sign, and everyone is going crazy because (Pittsburgh) covered," Kowalski said. "Then the score flashes 11-10 and we post it and it was an equally loud crowd, and they were all pretty upset."
Todd Fuhrman, a sportsbook Supervisor at Caesar's Palace, said there wasn't much of an uproar.
“We've had a handful of people that were more curious than anything else," he said.
"It didn't create nearly the same headaches as that Phillies-Rays game."
7 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Brad James 7 months ago
It's refreshing to hear that there was a "bad call" and Chargers fans aren't crying. Still, I'm pleased with the outcome, as a Broncos fan, especially since I didn't bet on the game. Screw you Chargers. You keep on losing. Ha! Ha!
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garr K. 7 months ago
well its true, when the chargers are constantly gettgin screwed by bad calls form referees, its hard to win a game... hmm i wonder when the time when players actaully decide games on how they play and not on how the ref's feel about it will begin...
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Brad James 7 months ago
Grow some thick skin Charger fan. We've had our fair share of controversial calls too but we won a tough game in the ATL and you lost at Pittsburgh. Scoreboard.
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Andrew Kahn 7 months ago
Guys, I think you are missing the point of the article. It's not to spark debate over the merits of the Steelers versus the Chargers. Rather, it's to point out the referees' error and how it affected those who bet on the game.
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John Fennelly 7 months ago
My problem with this is why was this play reviewed to begin with? There were no flags on the play plus it did not alter the outcome of the game. The passes and laterals were obviously all legal to the naked eye. If an official thought there was an illegal forward pass on the play - why wasn't a flag thrown?
My take is that the play moved too quickly in real time and the officials wanted to take a second look. But once they did that, they should have concluded that the play should stand. Instead, they mysteriously took the score down citing that there was an illegal forward pass?
Really? Which one? NFL VP of Officiating told Boomer Esaison on WFAN this morning that the original pass from Rivers to LT hit the ground and therefore was incomplete. What? The ball was caught up by his helmet, then tucked in for 4 yds before it was lateraled to Chambers. Then Chambers lateraled it backwards where Polumalu pickeg it up.
If I had a bet on Pittsburgh, I'd be asking for an investigation. Is the NFL fixing the scores now? They better not be......
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Brian McCarthy 7 months ago
It's Brian McCarthy from the NFL. Below is the full explanation of what happened and what should have happened.
by the way, the officials being held responsible, the entire officiating crew will be held accountable for their call. They are graded on every play of every game. The crew will be marked down for this call. The officials' grades impact their status for working the playoffs.
Also as you read yesterday, we are considering whether the ref should be allowed to check replay a second time if necessary to ensure the correct call is made.
RULE EXPLANATION ON ENDING OF SAN DIEGO-PITTSBURGH GAME
On the final play of Sunday’s game between the Chargers and Steelers, Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu returned a loose ball 12 yards for a defensive touchdown.
After an instant replay review and crew conference, the on-field ruling of touchdown was incorrectly reversed to no touchdown due to an illegal forward pass by San Diego.
There were three passes on the play. The first was a completed forward pass from San Diego’s Philip Rivers to LaDainian Tomlinson. The second, from Tomlinson to Chris Chambers, was initially ruled a legal backward pass but then reversed in replay to an illegal forward pass. The third, from Chambers, was a legal backward pass that hit the ground and was returned for the touchdown by Pittsburgh’s Polamalu.
The incorrect reversal of the on-field ruling of touchdown was acknowledged immediately following the game by referee Scott Green in the pool report interview with a representative of the media.
If any forward pass, legal or illegal, hits the ground, the play is dead immediately. The officiating crew mistakenly determined that the backward pass that Polamalu legally recovered and returned for the touchdown was the pass that was reversed in replay to being forward and illegal. Therefore, the crew ruled that the ball was dead when it hit the ground and the play was over. (The actual illegal forward pass – Tomlinson to Chambers – did not hit the ground and therefore the play is allowed to continue.)
If the situation had been handled properly, the defense (Pittsburgh) would have declined the penalty for an illegal forward pass from Tomlinson to Chambers and taken the touchdown.
The rules relevant to this particular play are as follows…
Rule 8, Section 1, Article 1 (b) states “When any illegal forward pass is caught or intercepted, the ball may be advanced and the penalty declined.” (page 49 of 2008 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League)
Rule 8, Section 1, Article 5 states “Any forward pass (legal or illegal) becomes incomplete and the ball is dead immediately if the pass strikes the ground or goes out of bounds.” (page 50 of 2008 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League)
Rule 8, Section 4, Article 1 (b) states “A defensive player may catch a backward pass or recover it after the pass touches the ground and advance.” (page 58 of 2008 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League)
The final score will remain Steelers 11, Chargers 10.
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garr K. 7 months ago
from the NFL, eh? well please tell me whats going on this year, there have been plenty times when teh refs have screwed up, im not sure if there is something in the air or what, but these referees defianetly need to be held accountale for ther actions and i woudl liek to know what those are? For example when Ed Hochuli robbed teh game form the Chargers in week2 what punishment did he get? So far all i hear is "its under review"... hmm
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