Dave’s Football Blog

Troy Polamalu nearly ruined it for all of us.

The Pittsburgh Steelers led the San Diego Chargers by the utterly improbable score of 11-10, thanks to a safety and three Jeff Reed field goals, including a 32-yarder with 15 seconds left. In the entire history of the National Football League, not one game had ever had a final score of 11-10. Not one. They’ve played a lot of games in the history of the NFL.

With five seconds left, though, San Diego had one shot to go 80 yards down the field — in the snow on muddy Heinz Field, no less — to change the outcome. The lateral party began instantly. Short throw to LaDainian Tomlinson, quick dump-off to Chris Chambers, change of direction to Antonio Gates in the opposite corner…

And here comes Polamalu blitzing in to knock it away. He grabs the ball and goes all the way in for a touchdown. So much for witnessing a rare historical moment…

But wait! Referee Scott Green made an important ruling! There was an illegal forward pass in there somewhere! The ball was ruled dead after Pittsburgh recovered it! The touchdown was taken off the board! Our unique (if not exactly beautiful) snowflake is preserved!

Uh, yeah. Where was the forward pass again? Tomlinson to Chambers looked legit. Chambers definitely tossed it backward. Polamalu knocked it on, yes, but that wasn’t exactly a forward pass. And if Polamalu’s knock was considered a forward pass, the game can’t end on a defensive penalty. San Diego should have had one more shot.

I’m sure Mike Pereira will turn up on NFL Network and explain it to all of us soon enough. Perhaps he’ll point us here and say that since the ball did not touch the ground, the defensive player who knocked it forward cannot advance the ball after recovering it. Or something. In the end, though, all that matters is that we finally got our 11-10 final score…

…unless, of course, you bet money on the Steelers to cover that -5 spread. Then you probably feel like shooting Scott Green. I would strongly advise against that. Besides, the gun shop is probably all out of bullets, anyway.

UPDATE: Scott Green has admitted that he blew the call, and the touchdown should have counted. Yeah, that makes everything better, doesn’t it?

ANOTHER UPDATE: According to Deadspin, Scott Green’s blown call resulted in a $64 million swing in favor of Vegas bookies. This is why I stick to Texas Hold ‘Em.

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