Today's Steelers-Dolphins game featured one of the single weirdest moments of the NFL's replay review era, as Ben Roethlisberger's goal line fumble was ruled Steelers ball because of a lack of evidence of the defense recovering the fumble. Watch this video of the call, and try not to get too confused.
VIDEO: The Bizarre Replay Review Call That Helped The Steelers Beat The Dolphins
Got all that? It’s okay if you don’t.
Here’s the verbatim transcription of what referee Gene Steratore said:
”After review, it has been determined that prior to the ball crossing the goal line, the runner did lose possession of the ball. However, by rule of replay, two aspects of this play must be available to be viewed. Not only did we have to view the fumble being a fumble, we also have to have clear evidence of the team recovering the ball. After review, we do not have clear evidence of the defense recovering the football. Therefore, Pittsburgh will have the ball, fourth and goal, at the half-yard line. Miami will not be charged a timeout, and the clock will start on the ready for play.That makes a lot more sense: Roethlisberger fumbled, but the replay wasn’t able to show that Miami recovered the ball. Therefore, the replay review could not award possession to the Dolphins.
The absence of evidence, in this case, means that the Steelers got the ball back, and got to kick a game-winning field goal. But Dolphins fans shouldn’t complain about the call; if anything, they should be complaining about the rule.
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