Miami Dolphins: Chad Henne's Final Pass vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Ruled INT

Things got a little bit worse for the Miami Dolphins four days after a controversial fumble call facilitated a Steelers victory Sunday. The NFL has altered the statistician report from the game to give Dolphins quarterback, Chad Henne, an interception on his final passing attempt, seen here.

Down 23-22 with 1:38 remaining, the Dolphins faced a 4th-and-6 from their own 33-yard line. Henne dropped back to pass, evaded pressure from Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds, but was hit behind by Worilds as he threw to Ronnie Brown.

Steelers linebacker James Harrison dove for and corralled the ball on the play, which was ruled an interception by the referee on the field. Later, replays showed the ball bounce before Harrison got it in his hands, but a necessary booth review to overturn the call never came.

The Steelers proceeded to run out the clock and walk away with the victory.


Explanation

Despite the ruling of an interception on the field, the stat keeper for the game mistakenly (albeit more accurately) ruled the pass incomplete.

While an incompletion is what did happen on the play, it is not what was ruled on the field and thus is not something that officially happened in the game.

Regardless of whether or not Harrison caught the ball (video proves he did not), the play was ruled an interception by the referees on the field and was not reviewed by the booth for any kind of alteration.

Keep in mind, this ruling did not affect the outcome of the game as the play in question happened on fourth down. Therefore an interception or incompletion both result in Steelers possession.

This only affects Chad Henne's statistics, which unfortunately now have an additional interception that should have been reviewed and overturned. Obviously, the booth was too lazy to review an inconsequential play with so little time remaining, but they absolutely should have reviewed it.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the NFL did not review the video of the play and is not altering anything that was ruled on the field. Rather, they are merely fixing the statistician's error to accurately reflect the ruling that was carried on the field, as erroneous as it may have been.


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Chris J. Nelson majored in journalism at Georgia State University and is currently a programming coordinator for Turner Sports in Atlanta. He operates his own Miami Dolphins website, The Miami Dolphins Spotlight, and he can be followed on Twitter here.