NFL privately admits to several blown calls in Steelers-Bears game

Though there has not been any public admission from the league, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, members of the NFL’s officiating department who reviewed Monday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears have revealed that referee Tony Corrente and his crew erred on several calls that could have turned the game in a different direction.

The Steelers won the game, 29-27, on Chris Boswell’s 40-yard field goal with 26 seconds left, but the result was highly controversial calls and no-calls, most of which went in Pittsburgh’s direction. The Beard tried a 65-yard field goal attempt by Cairo Santos on the last play of the game, and the try was no good, but several Steelers players appeared to be offside on the play, which would have given Santos another chance five yards ahead.

There was also a phantom low block call on Bears right guard James Daniels with 9:19 left in the third quarter that negated a one-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Fields to tight end Jimmy Graham. On the play, Daniels made little contact with the defender he was blocking, and he appeared to be in the tight end box, but the penalty was called anyway. That pushed the Bears back to the Pittsburgh 16-yard line. Two plays later, Steelers edge-rusher Alex Highsmith knocked Fields down well after Fields had released the ball, but there was no penalty for roughing the passer, and the Bears were limited to a field goal.

Under less stringent points of emphasis, this wouldn’t have been a roughing the passer penalty, but given the way the league has called it this season, this was a rough omission. It was especially rough for the Bears because edge-rusher Mario Edwards was called for roughing the passer on the previous drive.

Of course, the most widely discussed call was the taunting penalty on Bears linebacker Cassius Marsh with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter. The penalty wiped out Marsh’s sack of Ben Roethlisberger on third-and-8 from the Chicago 47-yard line that would have pushed the ball back into Pittsburgh territory and given the Steelers a fourth-and-15 situation. Because of the penalty, the Steelers instead had first-and-10 from the Chicago 39-yard line. Boswell kicked a 52-yard field goal four plays later to give the Steelers a 26-20 lead. The Bears scored a touchdown on their next drive on a Justin Fields pass to Darnell Mooney, and on the subsequent extra point, Steelers linebacker Joe Schobert was called for encroachment, which makes the no-call on Santos’ final field goal attempt that much more interesting.

It was also interesting that in a weekly video highlighting plays of specific note to officials, Marsh’s taunting penalty was the only example included from that game.

“In Chicago versus Pittsburgh, Bears No. 59 is penalized for taunting,” Vice President of Officiating Perry Fewell explained. “He takes several steps toward the Pittsburgh bench, posturing toward their sideline. Taunting is a point of emphasis to promote sportsmanship and respect for opponents. This was recommended by the competition committee and coaches.”

Corrente attempted to explain the penalty after the game, with a less than convincing rationale.

The contact between Corrente and Marsh was a hip-check that Corrente gave Marsh. As to whether Corrente “felt” that Marsh was taunting the Steelers’ bench… well, either he did or he didn’t. Whether a referee feels that something happened or not is irrelevant. Either he did or he didn’t by the letter of the NFL rules.

The NFL has not disciplined Corrente and his crew, and have not publicly disclosed any specific officiating errors in the game. This may or may not affect the abilities of these officials to work postseason games based on their regular-season grades.