NFL Admits Wrongdoing on Controversial Penalty in Ravens Loss

On the broadcast replay, it was clear that no forcible contact was made to the head or neck area of the long snapper, who is considered a defenseless player on such plays because of the compromised position he is in. In the postgame pool report from the official who called the game, referee Alex Moore told Jeff Zrebiec of the Athletic the following in a pool report: "The snapper by rule is a defenseless player, so the contact would be unnecessary. Basically, he ran him over."

When asked if he stands by his call even despite most of Jones' contact coming against the left guard before getting slightly pushed into the long snapper, Moore doubled down in support of his ruling.

"It does not necessarily matter who is contacted first," Moore added. "The snapper is still by rule a defenseless player."

Bad officiating is still not a good excuse for overall poor performance

As damaging as that call was and the subsequent controversial ones that followed in the fourth quarter, the Ravens still had chances to overcome them and ultimately didn't. After the penalty on Jones, the ball was moved to the Baltimore 6-yard line. The defense just let Steelers veteran running back Kenneth Gainwell waltz into the endzone untouched on the very next play instead of pulling off another low red zone stand to force another short field goal attempt, take the ball away or come up with a goal-line stand.

The defense's streak of consecutive games with at least one takeaway was snapped when rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan's interception was overturned and ruled a reception for Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. While that drive still ended in the second of three straight punts forced, it doesn't make up for the blown coverage that led to the eventual game-winning touchdown in the third or the chunk gains they gave up through the first three quarters.

Even after what should've been tight end Isaiah Likely's second touchdown catch of the game was overturned on the Ravens' second-to-last possession of the game, the offense had three more downs to get in the end zone from the Steelers' 13-yard line. After picking up 8 yards on a checkdown to running back Derrick Henry, they botched a third-and-short play coming out of a timeout and lost 3 yards before an incompletion on fourth down resulted in a turnover on downs.

Good teams not only find a way to overcome and not get bogged down by bad calls, but they also don't leave any room for such judgment calls to even matter by consistently executing in crucial situations, particularly in the red zone. Had the Ravens converted just one of their two possession inside the Steelers' 20-yard line on their previous fourth-quarter possessions before controversy struck, it wouldn't have mattered, and they could've just kicked a game-winning field goal on fourth-and-5 instead of needing a touchdown.

"You can't blame it one way or the other," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "We know even with those calls, we still should have made enough of a difference to win this game."