Ravens Clips
Sunday’s Steelers-Ravens game included two very controversial decisions by the league office’s replay apparatus to overturn rulings on the field regarding catches. On Monday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he spoke to the NFL about both the decision to wipe out an interception of a batted ball (turning it into a reception by Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers) and the decision to take away what the on-field officials had determined to be a touchdown catch by Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely.
“We had a conversation with the league office, and they were they were gracious enough to spend a lot of time on the phone with myself and [G.M.] Eric and [former NFL official] Tony Michalek,” Harbaugh told reporters. “And we appreciate that. It didn’t clear anything up, it didn’t make it any easier to understand, either one of the two calls, they’re very, very hard to understand how they get overturned. But they did, and that’s where it stands.”
Harbaugh later was asked whether the discussion included an effort to reconcile the replay ruling that Rodgers had completed the process of making a catch with the replay ruling that Likely had not.
“That’s part of the conversation. Sure, that was weaved into the conversation,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, you know, [Rodgers is] going to the ground, you have to have control of the football, you have to survive the ground when you make a catch. I mean, that’s what a catch is. You know, you can’t say the time element’s like that, and he satisfies the time element when you’re going to the ground. The time element doesn’t apply to going to the ground. So it’s a pretty clear cut.”
It is clear cut. At least it should be. Whoever made the replay ruling as to Likely (and no one ever knows for sure who makes these rulings) decided — in defiance of the rule — that Likely could only complete the process of the catch by getting a third foot down. His effort to extend the ball and/or to ward off the defender who was trying to bat it away was not considered, even though it absolutely should have been.
Likewise, whoever made the replay ruling as to Rodgers necessarily determined that he maintained possession through going to the ground, even though he clearly did not.
It’s an astounding outcome, one that not only ignores the rulebook but also fails to honor the “clear and obvious” standard that applies to every replay situation.
More than a decade ago, the NFL centralized the replay process in order to ensure that the “clear and obvious” standard would be consistently applied by the same person, eliminating the potentially varying interpretations that had been adopted by the various different referees, who previously had final say.
Now, “clear and obvious” is disappearing. Rulings from on-field officials are not receiving the deference that the rules clearly require.
It’s not good. For the league, for the team, for the officials, for anyone. And it introduces the ever-present possibility that someone (who, no one knows for sure) will ignore the real-time judgment of the officials and supply their own instead.
At a time when the legalization, normalization, and monetization of gambling has caused many to be looking for any/all evidence that the fix is in, the quickest way to legitimize those concerns is to have a replay function that changes rulings in a way that disregards the rules.
That point can’t be overemphasized. Why even have officials making these decisions if someone in Manhattan is going to ignore them when performing replay review?
It’s not what the owners voted for, and it’s incumbent on the owners to clean this mess up. Because it’s becoming increasingly clear and obvious that Commissioner Roger Goodell and his lieutenants have gone rogue and re-written the rulebook.
The Ravens added a linebacker to their roster on Monday.
The team announced that they claimed Carl Jones off of waivers. Jones was cut by the Bears over the weekend.
Jones played 148 special teams snaps in nine appearances for Chicago this season. He was credited with 11 tackles in those games.
The Ravens recently lost linebackers Jay Higgins and Chandler Martin to injuries. Both players were regulars on special teams for Baltimore this season.
Guard Ben Cleveland was suspended by the NFL for three games on Monday, so there have already multiple changes to the 53-man roster before this week’s game against the Bengals.
Cincinnati’s loss in Buffalo became New England’s and Baltimore’s game.
Assuming they want to play a night game in 13 days.
The NFL has flexed the Week 16 Sunday night game between the Bengals and Dolphins out of prime time. It will be replaced by the Patriots at Ravens game.
The Bengals-Dolphins game has moved to 1:00 p.m. ET.
With the Bengals falling to 4-9, and likely exiting the playoff chase, the Patriots-Ravens game consists of one team that is chasing the AFC East and the No. 1 seed and another team that is trying to win the AFC North. It will be a much more compelling game.
Last night, we explained why the NFL had blown the unnecessary roughness penalty that was called against Ravens defensive lineman Travis Jones for hitting Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz.
On Monday, the NFL admitted to Ravens coach Johh Harbaugh that a mistake had been made.
“They told me — and they told me I had permission to state this — that it was a wrong call, and should not have been called,” Harbaugh told reporters.
That’s not what referee Alex Moore said after the game. In a pool report, Moore defended the call and, in so doing, demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of the rule regarding contact with “defenseless players.”
Defenseless players can be hit. They can be hit forcibly. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was hit forcibly on Sunday while “defenseless” (i.e., after a change of possession). Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was hit forcibly last night while “defenseless” (i.e., while trying to catch a pass).
On one hand, it’s good that the NFL admitted the blunder. On the other hand, what choice did the NFL have? It was a bad call, made worse by Moore’s botched post-game explanation of the rule. Moore caused confusion by creating the impression that long snappers are off limits and, more broadly, that defenseless players generally can’t be hit hard.
They can be. But they can’t be hit forcibly in the head or neck area. They can’t be hit forcibly with an opponent’s helmet. And they can’t be on the wrong side of an illegal launch.
Hopefully, the league will do more than authorize Harbaugh to acknowledge that the mistake was made. How about a social-media video, blasted on the NFL’s 35.6 million follower Twitter feed?
At a minimum, Walt Anderson needs to address that play — and the other controversial calls from Steelers-Ravens — on Sunday’s NFL GameDay Morning.
People need to understand what the rules are, and what they aren’t, when it comes to defenseless players. And there’s no defense for the mess the NFL created on Sunday, even with Monday’s limited effort to clean it up.
And nothing can change the fact that the Ravens were on the wrong side of a four-point swing in a game that ended with a five-point margin of defeat. With the race for playoffs tighter than ever, that one mistake could be the difference between the Ravens qualifying for the postseason or going home after Week 18.
Ravens guard Ben Cleveland will serve an NFL suspension over the next three games.
The league announced today that Cleveland is suspended for three games without pay for violating the NFL’s Substances of Abuse Policy.
The suspension stems from an incident in February in which Cleveland was arrested for DUI in Georgia.
Cleveland will miss games against the Bengals, Patriots and Packers. He will be eligible to return for the Ravens’ regular-season finale against the Steelers. Cleveland has a $1.17 million base salary, so he will lose three game checks, or about $194,000.
The 27-year-old Cleveland has been with the Ravens since they selected him in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft. He has played in 10 games this season with no starts. He is scheduled to become a free agent in March.
Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is back in the concussion protocol.
Higgins was evaluated for a concussion multiple times during Sunday’s loss to the Bills and passed those tests, but head coach Zac Taylor said at a Monday press conference that the wideout reported symptoms after the game. That led to him being placed in the protocol.
Higgins had six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the 39-34 loss. He missed Week 13 with a concussion and said after Sunday’s game that he had no concern about staying in the game despite hitting his head on the turf multiple times.
The Bengals host the Ravens in Week 15. Higgins’ progress through the protocol will be updated when the team practices on Wednesday.
Of the three controversial decisions in the Steelers-Ravens game, the first allowed Pittsburgh to swap a field goal for a touchdown.
It happened when the officials called unnecessary roughness on Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones, for hitting Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz. The Steelers took the three points off the board, and scored six on the very next snap.
After the game, referee Alex Moore explained the decision to pool reporter Jeff Zrebiec.
“The snapper by rule is a defenseless player, so the contact would be unnecessary,” Moore said. “Basically, he ran him over.”
So the snapper can’t be contacted at all?
“You cannot make any forcible contact to that player,” Moore said. “The calling official felt like the contact rose to the level of being unnecessary against a defenseless player.”
The rule isn’t quite that general, however. The long snapper is indeed a defenseless player. But defenseless players aren’t immune from contact.
From Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9(b): “Prohibited contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture is listed below. However, these provisions do not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or helmet in the course of a conventional tackle or block on an opponent: (1) forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, even if the initial contact is lower than the player’s neck, and regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him; (2) lowering the head and making forcible contact with any part of the helmet against any part of the defenseless player’s body; or (3) illegally launching into a defenseless opponent. It is an illegal launch if a player (i) leaves one or both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, and (ii) uses any part of his helmet to initiate forcible contact against any part of his opponent’s body.”
In English, the rule doesn’t prohibit, as to the long snapper, “running him over.” It prohibits: (1) forcible blows to the head or neck area of the long snapper; (2) lowering the head and making forcible contact with any part of the long snapper’s body; and (3) launching illegally into the long snapper.
Watch the play. There was no forcible contact with Kuntz’s head or neck area. He was not struck with a helmet. There was no launch.
Instead, it appears that the Ravens specifically designed an attack that would entail shoulder-to-shoulder contact on Kuntz’s right, and on his left. The end result? They “ran him over.” But there was no prohibited contact with Kuntz.
Hopefully, they’ll give Walt Anderson enough time during next Sunday’s four-hour NFL Network pregame show to address this one, too. The Ravens have every right to be upset. About this play. About the Isaiah Likely non-catch. And about the Aaron Rodgers “catch.”
And the consequences were collectively massive. Those three calls contributed directly to the outcome of the game. Which may contribute directly to the outcome of the season, for both the Steelers and the Ravens.
There were several controversial calls in Sunday’s Steelers-Ravens game. And all of them went against the home team.
Previously, we looked at the decision to overturn the ruling on the field of a touchdown catch by Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely. Earlier, a non-catch (and, in turn, an interception) by Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a tipped pass was turned into a reception.
After the 27-22 Pittsburgh win, NFL V.P. of instant replay Mark Butterworth spoke about the decision to pool reporter Jeff Zrebiec.
“The offensive player had control of the ball and as he was going to the ground, there was a hand in there, but he never lost control of the ball and then his knees hit the ground in control,” Butterworth said. “So therefore, by rule, he is down by contact with control of the ball.”
Butterworth didn’t address the third element of the catch — performing an act common to the game and/or having control of the ball long enough to do so. He also didn’t address the requirement to maintain control through the act of going to the ground.
Butterworth wasn’t asked to reconcile the Likely and Rodgers rulings. We’re not sure they can be. If Likely’s catch wasn’t a catch, Rodgers’s catch wasn’t a catch. And vice-versa.
Like the Likely play, the Rodgers non-catch was overturned, ostensibly via “clear and obvious” evidence.
Maybe Walt Anderson will address one or both calls next Sunday on NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning.
If he doesn’t something’s wrong. Well, something’s wrong anyway. If Anderson addresses both of those plays, one less thing will be wrong.
The Ravens appeared to take the lead over the Steelers with 2:47 to play, after Baltimore tight end Isaiah Likely caught a 13-yard touchdown pass.
The ruling on the field was overturned by the replay official. The Ravens eventually turned the ball over on downs, and didn’t score another point.
After the game, the NFL made V.P. of instant replay Mark Butterworth available to pool reporter Jeff Zrebiec as to several controversial calls, including the Likely no-catch.
“The ruling on the field was a touchdown,” Butterworth said. “We quickly looked at the play. The receiver controlled the ball in the air, had his right foot down, then his left foot down. The control is the first aspect of the catch. The second aspect is two feet or a body part in bounds, which he did have. Then the third step is an act common to the game and before he could get the third foot down, the ball was ripped out. Therefore, it was an incomplete pass.”
Butterworth was asked whether the third step would have constituted an “act common to the game.”
“For this play, it would be him completing the third step,” Butterworth said.
For any play, however, the third element of the catch process is satisfied by “any act comment to the game.” Taking a third step is one way to do it. Others include, per the official rules, “extend[ing] the ball forward, . . . tuck[ing] the ball away and turn[ing] upfield, or avoid[ing] or ward[ing] off an opponent).” The third element also is satisfied if the player “maintains control of the ball long enough to” perform an act common to the game.
Watch the play, and ask yourself whether Likely performed an act common to the game (other than getting a third step down) or whether he had enough time to do so.
And here’s the real question, given that the ruling on the field was that Likely had made the catch. Is it “clear and obvious” that he failed to perform an act common to the game, or that he didn’t control the ball long enough to do so?
As one source with direct knowledge of the intended application of replay review explained it to PFT, the league has gotten away from the “clear and obvious” standard. “The catch rule now has become more about counting feet than anything else,” the source said, “which isn’t good.”
On Sunday, it wasn’t good for the Ravens. (It was good for the Steelers.) It’s not good for the game, its teams, or anyone if the NFL can’t or won’t apply the “clear and obvious” standard as written.
Watch the play again. And ask yourself this question: Is it “clear and obvious” that the ruling on the field was wrong?
The only clear and obvious answer is no.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh opened his postgame press conference on Sunday by fielding a question about tight end Isaiah Likely’s apparent touchdown catch being overturned and he quickly pivoted to other calls from the game.
Likely’s score would have given the Ravens a lead in the final three minutes of what turned out to be a 27-22 loss to the Steelers, but offcials ruled he did not have control of the ball long enough for the catch to count before the ball was knocked loose. The Ravens wound up turning the ball over on downs after passing on a chance to cut the Steelers’ lead to two points with a field goal.
“The explanation was that the third foot didn’t get down before the ball came out,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what they said.”
Harbaugh was then asked if he believed that was the right call and his answer pivoted to another controversial call earlier in the game. Officials initially ruled that linebacker Teddye Buchanan intercepted an Aaron Rodgers pass that was batted back in the direction of the quarterback, but the call was overturned to a catch by Rodgers for a seven-yard loss after a replay. Harbaugh made it clear that he did not believe that was the right call.
“You know what, I believe a lot of things,” Harbaugh said. “I think the play with — the Aaron Rodgers play - we’re just talking about rules here, it’s not an officiating issue. It comes from New York. But when you’re making a catch, you have to survive the ground. He didn’t survive the ground. He’s not down by contact. He was catching the ball on the way down with another person, so you gotta make a catch there and survive the ground. I don’t know why it was ruled the way it was on that one. All of those things I’m sure they’ll explain it to us, but they had plenty of time to look at it and they’re the ones that are the experts on the rules.”
Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones was flagged for roughing the long snapper on a Chris Boswell field goal in the second quarter and the Steelers scored a touchdown after picking up the first down on the penalty. Harbaugh could be heard yelling at officials that Jones did not make contact to Christian Kuntz’s head or neck during the game and he repeated that in his press conference.
“I didn’t see head and neck contact,” Harbaugh said. “That is what I did not see. You need to have head and neck area contact, and it’s gotta be forceful contact not incidental contact. I didn’t see any contact myself.”
None of the calls sat right with the Ravens, but they won’t be able to change the result. They are now 6-7 and looking up at the Steelers in the AFC North.
