What about intentional grounding? That penalty would have been a foul all the way back to about the 38-yard line, and a loss of down, putting Cleveland on 4th-and-15. Cleveland would have had a choice between that or a 55-yard line. yard field goal in the snow, and even if they had made it, the Steelers would have still had plenty of time left, two timeouts, and only needed a field goal to win the game.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, it’s easy to argue that Winston’s pass wasn’t an intentional grounding for not one, but two reasons. Let’s start with the definition of intentional grounding, according to the NFL rulebook.
“It is an intentional grounding foul when a passer, faced with an impending loss of distance due to pressure from the defense, throws a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion. A realistic probability of completion is defined as a pass thrown toward and landing near an originally eligible offensive receiver.
Cleveland offensive lineman Michael Dunn had checked in before the break as a sixth lineman and eligible receiver. The Cleveland line shifted to the left as the play developed, and one of the then players between Dunn and Pocic was driven backward. They were standing about three feet apart when the ball was released. The ball clearly landed near an originally eligible receiver.
There is another facet of the rule. Intention is right there in the line. When a passer’s throwing motion is influenced by a defender, a grounding cannot be called. Winston was hit by Queen after he started his throwing motion, but before he released the ball. His intended target was one of a pair of crossing receivers 10 to 15 yards down the field beyond the line of scrimmage. The only reason the ball went to Pocic was because Queen influenced Winston’s throw.
Here’s the correct verbiage from that section of the rulebook:
“If contact by an opponent materially affects a passer after the passer has begun his throwing motion, it is a forward pass if he passes the ball, regardless of where the ball touches the ground, a player, an official or anything else. When this happens, the rules for intentional grounding do not apply.”
The NFL has confirmed this Pro football talk via email on Friday that the call was made correctly:
“In terms of an intentional grounding, the quarterback was contacted, which affected the throw, and the crew confirmed that No. 68 had reported as eligible, and that he was in the area.”
So it seems clear that the decision was made correctly on the field, but it was only made after lengthy consultation between the crew on duty. During that time, and even after the call was announced twice, it never seemed like the Steelers were aware of what was being called.
“I initially thought it was a grounding,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “I couldn’t hear the officials. I thought it was grounding. When I realized that it was not a house arrest, I got information from them and called that we wanted to call. For us, the distance was more important. If it wasn’t a grounding, we moved them back five meters. They might kick into the wind, so we wanted to stop them and make the field goal longer.”
When the Steelers finally decided to accept the punishment, they weren’t ready to play. Tomlin called a timeout and Steelers defensive playcaller Patrick Queen came to the sideline with his arms outstretched.
“The refs said 4th and 2, then went back to 4th and 7, and then 3rd and 7, just a whole bunch of chaos,” Queen said. “Everyone was trying to figure out what the depth and distance were.”
So even though it appears the officials received the call correctly, if the call had been made more concisely and clearly, it could have saved the Steelers confusion and a timeout.
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