| | Cowher upset with 'ludicrous' penalty call
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Bill Cowher didn't have time to shake
hands with Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher after the game. He was too
busy running after referee Ron Blum.
|  | | Steelers coach Bill Cowher yells at the officials during the second half of Saturday's game. |
Once again, officiating caused a ruckus at the end of an NFL
playoff game.
And this time, Cowher was on the wrong end.
This is what set him off:
Titans kicker Joe Nedney missed a 31-yard field goal early in
overtime Saturday, but got another chance when cornerback Dewayne Washington was given a 5-yard penalty for running into the kicker.
On the next play, with the Steelers trying to call timeout,
Nedney's kick gave the Titans a 34-31 win.
"For a game to be decided on that call is ludicrous,'' Cowher
said. "And for me to have to explain to an official what's
reviewable and what's not is wrong. Fine me if you want. That's the
truth.''
Asked about the penalty he called on Washington, Blum merely
explained the difference between running into the kicker and
roughing.
As for the timeout, he said: "I wasn't aware that they were,
but one of my co-officials said that the request came after the
ball was snapped.''
Last Monday, the NFL admitted that officials botched the final
play in the New York Giants' 39-38 playoff loss to the 49ers.
As a result, commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the NFL was taking
steps to avoid a recurrence of what happened in San Francisco.
Fisher didn't see the Steelers' attempt to call timeout on the
winning kick. He also said Pittsburgh may have waited too long.
"If you want to call timeout, you have a whole bunch of time to
call timeout. You don't want to wait to the last second to call
timeout and ice the kicker,'' Fisher said.
Nedney had no doubt that he'd been hit. But even he admitted he
might've enhanced it a little.
"He got a pretty good hit on me, but I think when I'm done, I
might try acting,'' Nedney said, referring to the way he spun to
the ground.
Moments earlier, fireworks shot off at The Coliseum when
Nedney's kick went through the uprights. But that one didn't count
because the Steelers had called timeout.
"It really a surreal moment out there,'' Nedney said.
Pittsburgh linebacker Jason Gildon tried to call the timeout on
the final kick, and he said he called umpire Chad Brown by name
trying to stop play.
"He told me we didn't have any timeouts. Then I pointed at the
scoreboard, and we had two left,'' Gildon said.
Teams get two timeouts in overtime during the regular season.
But they get three in the postseason, and that's what Blum told
them during the coin toss.
"It's another example of officials just not being at the top of
their game,'' Gildon said. "It's the playoffs, there is a lot at
stake. If anyone should be ready, then it should be them.''
Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter said: "He should lose his job
for that.''
Cowher won an earlier argument with the officials in the third
quarter. Blum originally told Cowher he could not challenge a play
in which officials did not call Titans returner Derrick Mason down
at the start of a 30-yard punt return.
"I don't believe that's a challengeable play,'' Blum announced.
Cowher yelled back that it was, indeed.
Blum found out he was wrong. He then saw on replay that Mason's
knee had touched down, and announced the challenge was upheld.
At least one of the Steelers wasn't ready to blame the
officiating.
"In a close ballgame like that, I can't really complain about
officials making bad calls or what not,'' Pittsburgh receiver Hines
Ward said.
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Fine Me!
