Dolphins lament controversial call in end zone

[mesaSteeler]

Dolphins lament controversial call in end zone

By Mark Kaboly
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 25, 2010
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...nt_705970.html

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Ask the Steelers, and they will guarantee they recovered the ball in the end zone.

From Ben Roethlisberger to Doug Legursky to Jonathan Scott, they all had a part of it under the pile of humanity.

Of course, the Miami Dolphins are absolutely positive that linebacker Ikaika Alama-Francis not only recovered the loose ball, but got up and handed it to an official.

As for referee Gene Steratore and the official in the replay booth, they had no clue, and that was just fine with the Steelers.

Steratore, a Washington, Pa. native, overturned a touchdown run by Roethlisberger with the Steelers trailing 22-20 and 2:37 remaining. But Steratore also ruled that video evidence did not show who actually recovered the fumble in the end zone.

Thanks to the controversial call, the ball was awarded back to the Steelers at the 1-yard line, and Jeff Reed kicked the go-ahead field goal as the Steelers held on for a 23-22 win.

"We confirmed that there was a fumble and were not able to confirm a clear recovery by the defense," said Steratore, who also noted that since it was ruled a touchdown on the field that his crew did not need determine who recovered the loose ball.

The ruling left the Dolphins fuming.

"I just don't understand the ruling" Alama-Francis said.

Replays showed that Alama-Francis came out of the pile with the ball, but there was no video evidence showing who actually recovered it.

"You are damn right I recovered that," Alama-Francis said. "Nobody else had that ball but me, and I wasn't going to let it go. I am thinking, 'I just made the play to win the game for us.'"

Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby said officials on the field told him the review was out of their control.

"They said that everybody upstairs had to agree that we had control of the ball," Dansby said. "They leave it to the guys upstairs? (The on-field refs) have to see it. They have to make sure they see it. You are right there in the action, you overrule that.

"We gave the official the ball. We had the ball. It's sad, sad, very sad."

Scott, the Steelers offensive lineman, had a perfectly good explanation why Alama-Francis ultimately had control of the ball.

"The ref said, 'It's a touchdown, it's a touchdown, let go, let go,'" Scott said. "It is logic. You let go of the ball."

Added Legursky: "One other guy had one arm in there. Four arms against one and we came up with it."

Miami linebacker Channing Crowder, of course, saw it in a different way.

"I saw 59 grab the ball, jump on it first and get up with it," he said. "I have been under the pile a number of times and nobody ever just gave me the ball to give it back."

Still, Miami had a chance to win the game with more than two minutes left on the clock. Kicker Dan Carpenter already had converted five field goals, but the Dolphins couldn't get him in position for a sixth. They moved the ball only four yards before turning it over on downs.

"You hear that the ball just didn't bounce our way," Dansby said. "The ball did bounce our way. They just took it from us."

Mark Kaboly can be reached at mkaboly@dailynewsemail.com or 412-664-9161.

[MasterOfPuppets]

everyone of those malcontents should get a 50k fine ......

[Fire Arians]

you know, even if they recovered that by no means sealed the game for them. they'd get the ball at the half yard line and we had 3 timeouts left. and our defense did pony up at the end of the game

[ZoneBlitzer]

You know if the Dolphins were honest with themselves they would be lamenting the unbelievable field position they had to start the game off with. THAT is where the game was won or lost.

[wootawnee]

Yea they could have drove down and kicked a feild goal at the end too.....

[stb_steeler]

I did see the interview with Ben at the end, he said he had got the ball back in the scrum but by the time refs sorted it out it was taken from him by miami.........

[tony hipchest]

"They said that everybody upstairs had to agree that we had control of the ball," Dansby said. "They leave it to the guys upstairs? (The on-field refs) have to see it. They have to make sure they see it. You are right there in the action, you overrule that.

ummm... excuse me mr. douchebag, but the guys on the field did see it and called it a TD in favor of the steelers. you should be glad the guys upstairs correctly reversed the TD and gave your team 2nd life.

[LVSteelersfan]

It's a dead ball as soon as they called a TD on the play. No problem figuring that one out. I still saw Legursky diving into the pile and Ben was there after the Miami players lost control of the ball and sent it backwards toward the goal line. Letting go of the ball when the ref says the play is dead is certainly a no brainer. Just because the Miami player got the ball after the refs said to let it go means nothing.

[lionslicer]

Dead ball, dolphins can't recover a dead ball, end of story. Rule will get changed this off season causing refs to not blow the whistles at the goal line, then causing fumbles that shouldn't have happened, which would cause a team to use its challenge to over turn, then if they don't have any challenges or time-outs left, and its not within 2 minutes, the rule will be changed again.

This happens over and over every year. I can't believe people still haven't gotten used to it.

Fins fans should be taking this as a good thing. Their team sacrificed a win so the sport could go in the right direction... of slowly destorying itself.

[toughsticks87]

Originally Posted by LVSteelersfan

It's a dead ball as soon as they called a TD on the play. No problem figuring that one out. I still saw Legursky diving into the pile and Ben was there after the Miami players lost control of the ball and sent it backwards toward the goal line. Letting go of the ball when the ref says the play is dead is certainly a no brainer. Just because the Miami player got the ball after the refs said to let it go means nothing.

Exactly. Who recovered it is useless since it was a dead ball at that point. A very unique situation here, we got lucky. I can't blame Miami for being mad, though. I'd be just as had that happened to us.