Mike Tomlin and approximately everyone else watching weren't the only ones surprised when Al Riveron did not overturn an offensive pass interference penalty on Johnny Holton in last Monday night's 27-3 win over the Bengals.
That apparently included the official who initially called the penalty.
"I talked to an official during the game, towards the fourth quarter, he told me the referee that threw the flag wishes he never threw it," Holton told me. "He was hoping New York would overturn it."
That obviously didn't happen and Holton was penalized for "pushing off" on cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.
"I was surprised. I thought they were going to overturn it for sure," Holton told me. "I don’t know what to say about that call. I just wish they hadn’t called it on me. It was a good play by me and the corner. We weren’t pushing each other or anything. We were both going for the ball."
The failure by New York to overturn the Steelers' challenge was nothing new.
Tomlin has now been denied on 11-straight challenges. Critics often point to that as a possible shortcoming. But prior to missing on those last 11 challenges, Tomlin was 31 of 60 on challenges in his career.
So what happened? Tomlin has not won a challenge since Riveron took over from Dean Blandino as the NFL's Vice President of Officiating for the 2017 season.
Maybe that's a coincidence. Who, other than Riveron, knows?
But we do know that Tomlin went from winning just over 50 percent of his challenges -- which is slightly above league average -- to not getting a single one in the past three seasons.
• There are web sites that specialize in trade rumors during the season for pro hockey, baseball and basketball. Football? Not so much. Maybe that should change.
As we've seen with the Steelers already this season, in-season trades are becoming more common in the NFL than ever before. And most of the time, players don't see it coming.
Take the example of tight end Nick Vannett, whom the Steelers traded for last week with the Seahawks. This wasn't the same case as when the Steelers had traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick the week before. Fitzpatrick had asked the Dolphins for a trade.
Vannett had been in Seattle for three years and thought he would at least finish the season there.
"It kind of catches you off guard a little bit," Vannett told me. "It's not anything they can prepare you for. When you get the phone call, you find out right then and there. Next thing you know, you've got to pack up and move on to the next city. That's exactly what happened with me. I got the phone call and I had six hours to catch a flight to get out here. I had to get everything I'd need for the next couple of weeks."
It can be pretty unsettling, especially in a sport as complex as football, where teams run plays and schemes that are completely different from each other. Each team also has its own verbiage.
But Vannett settled in quickly.
"At first, I was worried about everything. I had all of my stuff. I was going to a new city. I didn't know how it was going to be," he told me. "You just don't know what to expect. But I came to a great situation. I love it here. Maybe the trade was a blessing. I came to a great opportunity. I knew a lot of guys on the team."
To continue reading, log into your account:
