The Pittsburgh Steelers let the New England Patriots slip through their fingers Sunday with a little help from a controversial call.
With the Patriots leading by three with 34 seconds to play, Ben Roethlisberger hit tight end Jesse James for what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown.
But upon further review, the officials deemed that James did not control the ball as he went to the ground and reversed the call, giving the Steelers the ball back at the New England 10-yard line with 28 seconds left.
On the next play, Roethlisberger hit Darrius Heyward-Bey for a short gain, but the wide receiver was tackled in bounds. But instead of spiking the ball, Roethlisberger attempted a fake spike, throwing the ball toward Eli Rodgers in the end zone. The ball was tipped by Eric Rowe and intercepted by Duron Harmon, securing the 27-24 win for New England.
After the loss, which bumped the Steelers to the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had some harsh NSFW comments for the controversial call that took the touchdown away from James and cost Pittsburgh the win.
While it was a controversial call, official Tony Corrente explained the ruling after the game and it appears they got the call right.
We’re sure the Steelers won’t forget this if the two teams meet again in the playoffs.
