Miami Dolphins: Referee's Call Ruins Dolfans Day, Discredits NFL

The NFL is quickly getting a reputation for not being able to control the game that has had almost no limits to its popularity.

Last week, the league responded to the violent nature of football by threatening future heavy fines and suspensions. Most players, coaches, analysts and fans agreed that the action taken by the league was a gross overreaction.

Then this past Sunday, the NFL's flaws were on display again. With the Miami Dolphins leading the Pittsburgh Steelers 22-20 late in the fourth quarter, the officials ruled that Ben Roethlisberger had scored a touchdown on a designed quarterback draw.

Except that he hadn't.

Dolphins safety Chris Clemons had knocked the ball loose before Roethlisberger had crossed the plane of the end zone.  A scrum ensued, and Dolphins linebacker Ikaika Alama-Francis emerged with the ball.

The replays clearly showed that Roethlisberger had not scored, and I remarked on the live blog at 3:49 PM that the referees better not find a way to screw Miami.

On Facebook, I was even more pessimistic, suggesting that the referees would definitely find a way to not give the ball over to Miami at their 20-yard line as a result of the touchback. 

This would have, in all likelihood, ended the game, as the Dolphins could have run out the clock or at least pinned Pittsburgh deep in their territory without any timeouts.

Sure enough, referee Gene Steratore, a Pittsburgh native who owns a business in the area (can you say conflict of interest?), explained that Roethlisberger had indeed fumbled, but because the officials could not determine who had recovered the fumble, Pittsburgh would retain possession.

In all my years of coaching, covering and attending football games, never have I heard of referees not being able to determine who has the ball. What is even more maddening is that every indication is that Miami recovered the fumble.

This included two Dolphin defenders falling on the ball, Francis waltzing out of the pile with the football and no Pittsburgh players even pretending that they had recovered the pigskin.

Pittsburgh calmly kicked the chip shot 19-yard field goal, and a stunned Dolphins squad could barely move the ball on their next drive, resulting in a 23-22 Pittsburgh victory.

Here's the crime and the reason Steratore and the NFL should be held accountable for this debacle: as poorly as both teams played at points, the made-up referee call (botched isn't strong enough of a description) literally changed the outcome of the game.

You can argue all you want that Miami shouldn't have kicked five field goals and scored touchdowns. Perhaps you want to argue that Miami still had a chance to win after "Stealing Steratore" completed his little caper. The reality is that if the proper and easy call is made on Roethlisberger's fumble, Miami wins.

This could be the game that keeps the Miami Dolphins out of the playoffs. How will Dolphin fans feel if the team loses a playoff tiebreaker to the Steelers based on a head-to-head matchup?

Which brings us back to the NFL failing to control its product. Last week, we learned the league can't control the physical nature of the game, so they will make it a kinder, gentler game. 

This week, we learned that professional football just won't have a whole lot of integrity or honesty.