SI

Fans Weren't Buying Rules Analyst's Shaky Explanation of Why Refs Took Away Ravens TD

Liam McKeone

Ravens TE Isaiah Likely had a TD catch taken away by the referees in a narrow loss to the Steelers.
Ravens TE Isaiah Likely had a TD catch taken away by the referees in a narrow loss to the Steelers. / NFL on CB
In this story:

The Ravens lost a huge game to the Steelers on Sunday, 27-22. The win, in tandem with the Bengals’ loss to the Bills, puts Pittsburgh very much in the driver’s seat for the AFC North title and a playoff berth. Baltimore, meanwhile, faces an uphill battle to playoff contention and will look back on several moments from Sunday’s game with great regret. The Ravens will also likely be upset for quite some time about a pivotal and controversial ruling by the officials that took away an Isaiah Lively touchdown.

With fewer than three minutes remaining and Baltimore down by five, Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass in Steelers’ territory. He found Likely streaking across the middle and hit him for what was initially ruled a touchdown despite Likely losing control of the ball after a few steps. But after review, the officiating crew ruled Likely did not complete the process of a catch. The TD was taken off the board and the Ravens instead would turn the ball over on downs three plays later, never to score again.

It was obviously a massive call that swung the outcome of a critical game in the AFC playoff race. The CBS broadcast team brought on rules analyst Gene Steratore to explain the controversial decision, and his reasoning did not land with the audience. His primary point was that, in order to complete a catch, a receiver must maintain control of the ball long enough to make a football move; according to Steratore, Likely did not do that.

“In order for this to be a completed catch, he must complete all three elements of the catch,” Steratore said on the broadcast. “Likely has possession, we saw two feet down, great look here. Possession, two feet. But he has to have the time to make a football move or a football move. It’s that element right there that he did not finish the third element.”

Steratore took to social media to lay it out plainly for anyone following along there instead of on the broadcast.

Fans didn’t really buy the explanation, pointing to Lively extending his arms as proof he did make a “football move” as defined by the rulebook, and pointing out the flaws in the logic that led to the play being called incomplete.

It is yet another confusing call that makes fans question what is a catch and what is not. It was obviously a significant decision in regards to the outcome of the game and the Ravens were never going to be happy about it. But even unaffiliated fans were frustrated with the call.

The sentiment of Steratore’s explanation was echoed by NFL VP of instant replay Mark Butterworth. He told reporters afterwards Likely didn’t take a third step before the ball was knocked out and therefore did not complete the catch.

“The third step is an act common to the game and before he could get the third foot down, the ball was ripped out,” Butterworth told The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “Therefore, it was an incomplete pass.”

Another week of NFL football, another controversy about a catch. This one proved quite meaningful to the fate of the Ravens, both on Sunday and potentially their season overall.

Ravens react to controversial Isaiah Likely call

As one might expect both the Ravens’ players and their coach were not happy with the decision to take Likely’s TD off the board.

“You know what, I believe a lot of things,” coach John Harbaugh said when asked if he believed Likely scored on the play, via Ravens reporter Sarah Ellison. “I think the Aaron Rodgers play—and we're just talking about rules here, it's not an officiating issue. It comes from New York. But when you're making a catch, you have to survive the ground. He didn't survive the ground. He's not down by contact. He was catching the ball on the way down with another person, so you gotta make a catch there and survive the ground. I don't know why it was ruled the way it was on that one.

“All of those things I'm sure they'll explain it to us, but they had plenty of time to look at it and they're the ones that are the experts on the rule.”

“I believe (it was a touchdown),” said Jackson when asked the same question, per reporter Giana Han. “In the end zone, take a step, guy punching at the ball... It’s all I can say.”

Likely didn’t have much to offer reporters when the man himself was asked about the touchdown he lost due to the call.

“They made a call, gotta live with what the ref said at the end of the day,” Likely said, per reporter Carita Banks.

Safe to say this play will be a matter of much debate over the remainder of the season.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

FREE NEWSLETTER. SI BTN Newsletter. Start off your day with SI:CYMI. dark

feed

Published
Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

Home/NFL