Odd ending to a snowy afternoon

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November 16, 2008

By ERIC KNOPSNYDER The Tribune-Democrat Sun Nov 16, 2008, 11:50 PM EST

PITTSBURGH — It was a befitting end to an ugly game.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 11-10 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday – the first one in NFL history with that score – came to be because of a botched play by the Chargers and, apparently, a blown call by the officials.

The Steelers had gone ahead on Jeff Reed’s 32-yard field goal and San Diego did little on the kickoff return. That left the Chargers needing to go 79 yards in five seconds.

Quarterback Philip Rivers threw a short pass over the middle to LaDanian Tomlinson, who flipped the ball to teammate Chris Chambers on the play. Chambers flung the ball back across the field toward Rivers, but Steelers safety Troy Polamalu broke on the ball, knocked it down, then scooped it up and returned it to the end zone.

It initially looked like Polamalu’s play made it 17-10 with the extra-point attempt to follow, but a confusing review process resulted in it being ruled an illegal forward pass and having the ball declared dead, thereby ending the game.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin refused to even discuss what the officials told him about the play, but referee Scott Green told a pool reporter that the officiating crew made a mistake on it.

“We should have let the play go through in the end, yes,” Green said. “It was misinterpreted that, instead of killing the play, we should have let the play go through.”

The ruling made no difference in the final outcome and, aside from the statistics and a virtually meaningless tiebreaker, it won’t have an effect on the Steelers.

It did have an impact on countless gamblers, however, as the betting line on the game was generally around five points.

The touchdown-that-wasn’t turned out to cost those who took the Steelers, but benefited the Chargers’ backers.

Even Green’s attempts to explain the final play left it shrouded in mystery.

“There was some confusion on which illegal forward pass we were discussing,” he said, “and it was decided that the illegal forward pass hit the ground and that would have killed the play. And there was no time remaining, so that would end the game.”

But the only lateral that hit the ground was Chambers’ pitch to Rivers, and that was clearly backward.

“There was some confusion over which pass we were talking about and it was decided that it was the second pass that was illegal that did hit the ground, and therefore we killed the play there.”

But if it was Tomlinson’s lateral that was ruled to be illegal, Chambers’ lateral – and Polamalu’s touchdown – should have counted.

“I know,” Green said. “The rule was misinterpreted.”

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Rare happening: Reed’s game-winning field goal was his second of the game, but he pushed a 51-yarder wide left in the first quarter, the first he’s missed this season.

He said that the sloppy conditions at Heinz Field, which were caused by a snow squall before the game, forced him to take smaller steps on his kicks.

“You have to change up your total kicking style,” he said. “The only one I didn’t change my steps on was the 51-yarder.

“I didn’t know (how bad the field was). In pregame warmups, it was bad, but it hadn’t snowed like crazy, and it wasn’t as wet.”

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Notes: San Diego fell to 0-13 all-time in Pittsburgh during the regular season … The Steelers were penalized 13 times for 115 yards compared with two Chargers’ penalties for 5 yards. … After recording just 12 sacks in their first nine games, the Chargers got to Ben Roethlisberger four times on Sunday. … Steelers inactive for the game were: CB Bryant McFadden, CB Deshea Townsend, LB Bruce Davis, OL Tony Hills, OT Marvel Smith, TE Heath Miller, DE Orpheus Roye and QB Dennis Dixon.

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