OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh wants more clarification to the NFL’s catch rule after Isaiah Likely’s go-ahead touchdown was overturned in Sunday’s 27-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“It’s about as clear as mud right now,” Harbaugh said Monday. “That’s how I feel about it.”
The referees initially ruled Likely scored on a 13-yard pass from Lamar Jackson — which would have given the Ravens a one-point lead with 2:43 remaining — despite the tight end losing the ball in the end zone.
But less than a minute later, referee Alex Moore announced that it was an incompletion. Likely had the ball punched out by Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. before he made a third step in the end zone. NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth explained in a pool report Sunday that the third step is “an act common to the game” and needed to be completed in order for it to be ruled a touchdown.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the NFL catch rule “was as clear as mud” after what was initially ruled as a TD catch by Isaiah Likely ultimately became an incompletion due to the ball being punched out by Joey Porter Jr. before Likely made a third step. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
According to Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, a forward pass is complete when a player secures control of the ball, touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands and after he “clearly performs any act common to the game (e.g., extend the ball forward, take an additional step, tuck the ball away and turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.”
Harbaugh called the league on Monday and spoke with Perry Fewell, the senior vice president of officiating administration for the NFL, and Walt Anderson, the NFL Officiating Rules Analyst. There was a discussion about the overturned calls in the fourth quarter: Likely’s touchdown and Baltimore’s interception of Aaron Rodgers.
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“It didn’t clear anything up,” Harbaugh said. “It didn’t make it any easier to understand either one of the two calls. They’re very hard to understand how they get overturned, but they did and that’s where it stands.”
Asked if the overturned Likely touchdown cost the Ravens the game, Harbaugh replied, “You never know what cost you the game.”
The loss dropped the Ravens to 6-7 — one game back of the first-place Steelers in the AFC North with four weeks remaining.
Harbaugh said the league acknowledged it made the wrong call on Travis Jones’ unnecessary roughness penalty on the Steelers’ 32-yard field goal in the second quarter. Instead of a field goal, the Steelers scored a touchdown one play after the penalty, meaning they received an extra four points on that drive.
Moore told a pool reporter after the game that Jones made “forcible” and “unnecessary” contact with the long snapper, but Jones shouldn’t have been penalized because he didn’t make any contact with the head or neck area.
“That’s the rule,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not whether you run a player over trying to block a field goal — that has nothing to do with it. It’s forcible contact to the head and neck area.”
