The NFL has admitted they blew an unnecessary roughness call against Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones that allowed the Pittsburgh Steelers to get a new set of downs and eventually score a touchdown.
Jones was called for unnecessary roughness for contacting the long snapper’s head or neck area, but that never happened on replay. Instead, Jones made contact with Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz on his shoulder, which should not be a penalty.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said the NFL called him on Monday, and admitted that call was incorrect after watching it over.
Head referee Alex Moore said the contact from Jones was forcible, as Jones ‘ran over’ Kuntz.
“The snapper by rule is a defenseless player, so the contact would be unnecessary. Basically, he ran him over,” Moore said, “You cannot make any forcible contact to that player. The calling official felt like the contact rose to the level of being unnecessary against a defenseless player.”
Harbaugh was enraged on the field, noting there was no contact to the head or neck area by Jones, and instead of allowing a field goal on the drive, the Ravens instead allowed another touchdown to put them down 17-3.
Meanwhile, the league also talked to Harbaugh about Isaiah Likely’s would-be touchdown that was instead turned to an incomplete pass. Harbaugh came out of the conversation no clearer minded than he was before.
“Do I think it needs more clarification? Yeah,” Harbaugh said. “It’s about as clear as mud right now. That’s how I feel about it.”
Those calls all shifted the game significantly, leading to the Steelers walking away with a 27-22 win and the lead in the AFC North as a result of it.