Official Gameday Thread Steelers vs Ratbirds

That “He gave himself up” call was total BS. How many times has a receiver gotten up and took off to the end zone after realizing he was untouched. Then of course Collinsworth praised the refs for the awareness the Ravens player’s knee was down and got up and walked backwards “that was some fine refereeing there.” Had the player gotten up and scored he would have praised him for his awareness. I don’t care how many times you review that, it was a fumble.

 

Didn't hurt that Calais Campbell was out of the game.

 

Funny that they were so quick to say he was giving himself up but Kenny laid there for what felt like an eternity and the whistle didn't blow until someone touched him.
Is that rule only applied situationally then? Only when time is a factor?

 

That is literally the definition of a troll. They likely could be fans of other teams who come here to stir sh!t up. Makes it even better for them when they get a response.

 

To an extent, seems to be up to ref interpretation if a player has given himself up. In the context of the game situation at the time of the play, refs were looking for a give up as Ratbirds were trying to save time.

I hope there is something in the rules that is very clear when a player has given himself up, not relying on game situation as main factor.

 

There's too much gray area with this. I don't care for situational officiating. I see too much of that in the NHL. Offenses already have too many advantages. These "give up" plays should be handled the same way as they are when time isn't necessarily a factor. So, if Andrews continue to lay on the ground waiting for a touch from a defensive player, then the clock should continue to wind, same as it would halfway through the first quarter if the defensive players stand there without contact.

 

Your only post in the last 10 days is this!

 

He was never touched.

 

You do know that Michael McDonald also sang on some Steely Dan songs correct....

 

I could fully see it the other way as something Bellichick would do: team trying to save time, player goes down, nobody touches him to let the clock wind down.

It was a nonsense call - I don’t believe Andrews gave himself up, he thought he was down by contact and got up to reset. We’ve all seen players do the same in the NFL (plaxico for example) and there was no “he gave himself up” bs

 

I was always under the impression that the whistle ends the play. So IMO, that was a fumble.

Refs were kind of awful last night, not just on that play.

 

Once again, they're seems to be some confusion here, and once again it's not on my end.

 

Just watched a replay of game on NFL Network. I know it's way early but that drive against a decent Ravens D, especially in their home, reminded me of one of Ben's late comebacks. Najee pushing Kenny for first down was epic. Kenny got poise for sure. He could be surrounded by a decent cast, time and a sweet first two draft picks will tell. I get KC, Buffalo, Jags, and Bengals got stud QB's for awhile but I can see this Steeler team giving them hell. Kind of wish it was an 18 game season

 

He was never down by contact.

 

Agreed. They were horrible. The Ravens kept running that one play to the right side, with Ricard trying to kick out Watt, and the right tackle held the defensive end just about every time and was never called.

The penalty on Heyward was a joke.

Regarding Andrews giving himself up, part of the problem is the rule. There is no signal for it. That said, no way in hell should that not be a fumble, but in the case of Pickett, they waited until he was touched. They didn't call it consistently within the game. Andrews didn't take a knee. He fell down. He should have to wait to be touched, or if the Steelers refused to do so, then the officials blow the whistle. The whistle had not blown when he stood up, so that play should have been live. At the very least, they screwed it up by not blowing the whistle.

 

Agree. And for everyone's clarity (because I wasn't 100% sure myself), here is the official NFL rule concerning "giving yourself up":

https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/down-by-contact/

Now, reading section D, Andrews clearly did not kneel, nor did he slide. He fell, but IIRC he fell in the effort to catch the ball - I don't think that constitutes giving himself up. However, the rule is vague in that sense as its open to interpretation by the refs. How do you judge intent?

But the real bottom line for me, as you also stated - the whistle did not blow. Therefore, that was a live play, and that was a fumble.

My guess, and call it conspiracy because it very well could be just that - is that NY buzzed the refs and ensured that they called it "down by giving one self up" so as not to end the game that way. Bad optics, yadda yadda.

Still stinks.

 

This
Well put.