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Staff Report January 12, 2003
The Titans are going to Oakland to battle for the AFC Championship on Sunday thanks to Joe Nedney's controversial game-winning field goal in overtime of Saturday's divisional playoff game at the Coliseum.
One day later we look to see the reaction of the Steelers, as told by the Pittsburgh sportswriters.
''Blum’s a bum.
That’s the printable version of what the Steelers were saying about referee Ron Blum after their 34-31 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday in an AFC divisional game at The Coliseum.
The source of their bitterness was Blum’s running-into-the-kicker call on Steelers cornerback Dewayne Washington at 12:49 of overtime. It gave Titans kicker Joe Nedney a second chance after he’d pulled a 31-yard attempt wide right.
“He choked, and they bailed him out,” Steelers linebacker Joey Porter said. “It was a chip shot, and he missed it. And you’re going to bail him out? After he choked, you’re going to bail him out? That’s what you’re going to do to us? That’s what he did to us. You work hard for eight months to put yourself in a position to play a game like that, and it’s all taken away from you in a blink of an eye.”
Steelers coach Bill Cowher was equally outraged.
“I saw the kicker kick the ball, take a couple of steps, and Dewayne, sliding on the ground, fell into him,” he said. “For a game to be decided on that call is ludicrous.”
Titans coach Jeff Fisher, predictably, saw it differently.
“It is the defensive player’s responsibility to avoid running into the kicker under all circumstances,” he said. ”If he’s blocked into him, it would not be a foul.”
Washington, who’d missed a tackle on Justin McCareins 38-yard reception two plays earlier, had a clear angle toward the kick and charged in virtually unblocked from the right side. Replays showed that he bumped Nedney in the leg after the kick. Nedney spun and fell to the ground. Blum threw the flag, which moved the ball five yards closer. Nedney drilled the game-winner from 26 yards to send the Steelers home.
“Obviously, I’m giving it all I have to go and block it,” Washington said. “The ref made the call. So be it.”''
''This wasn't a football game, it was 'Rocky' personified.
Those weren't the Steelers and Titans fighting desperately to advance Saturday afternoon and into Saturday night at The Coliseum, it was Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed doing battle in a confrontation so profound, it transcended what was at stake.
Would the Super Bowl really have been better than this?
The Steelers will never know.
Their dream died hard in overtime, when Titans kicker Joe Nedney was given a second chance to kick a game-winning field goal in overtime, giving Tennessee a 34-31 win.
But when their pain gives way to appreciation, the Steelers will realize they at least went down in a blaze of glory.
They don't give away rings for such things, and the Steelers will get none for an effort that included allowing 430 yards of offense, dropping a couple of critical passes, turning the ball over, and missing a tackle and then running into a kicker in OT.
They weren't perfect, and according to The Coliseum scoreboard, they weren't good enough.''
''The Steelers went from feeling like giant-killers to feeling like Giants — New York Giants — on Saturday.
For the second time in as many weeks, an NFL playoff game has ended in bizarre fashion. Last week, the Giants got a league apology for a penalty call that wasn't made on the final play of their loss to the San Francisco 49ers. This week, Steelers linebacker Joey Porter doesn't want an apology if the league decides the pivotal running-into-the-kicker penalty shouldn't have been called. That's the penalty that gave Tennessee a second chance at converting a game-winning field goal in overtime, and beating the Steelers, 34-31.
'What can an apology do for me right now?' Porter said. 'What can it possibly do for me? I'm still going home.'
Just like the Giants.
It can be argued, and no doubt will, that the game doesn't come down to the crucial call if Steelers cornerback Dewayne Washington makes a tackle earlier in the winning drive, or if any number of other Steelers had executed better on any number of earlier plays.
But this game did come down to Joe Nedney's acting ability. Don't take our word for it. Listen to Nedney, who was wide right on a 31-yard field-goal try in overtime, but went down like he was shot when bumped by the rushing Washington.
The yellow flag flew. Running into the kicker. Five yards and another chance for Nedney, who also had converted a field goal in this overtime sequence after the Steelers had called a timeout, prompting premature fireworks from the rim of The Coliseum.
Then came the miss and the penalty.
'He got a pretty good hit on me, but I think when I'm done playing ball, I might try acting,' Nedney said.
Porter seethed as the kicker laughed.
'It's obvious the guy missed the field goal and he did a faking, acting, job, and the refs gave it to him,' Porter said. 'It was plain and simple.'
Washington hit Nedney. Did he hit him hard enough to warrant the game-deciding flag? That's a judgment call and this crew had exercised some shaky judgment on this day. Worse, there had been an instance when referee Ron Blum had not known the rules. That was evident when Steelers coach Bill Cowher tried to challenge a third-quarter punt return by Derrick Mason, contending that Mason had been down by contact well short of the eventual mark at the Steelers' 30.
At first, Blum would not allow the challenge, then conceded, to the stadium crowd and television and radio audiences, that someone in the booth had assured him the play was reviewable. By the way, the Steelers won the challenge.
'Thank goodness somebody in the stadium knew the rules,' Cowher said.
There was no second chance at the end. The penalty was called. The Steelers tried to call timeout to ice the kicker again, but were denied.
'One of my co-officials said that the request came after the ball was snapped,' Blum said to a reporter.
Nedney converted his second, or third chance depending on your count, and Tennessee moves on to the conference championship game, leaving Cowher and his team with the most bitter taste in their mouths.
'For a game to be decided on that call is ludicrous,' Cowher said. 'For me to have to explain to an official what's reviewable and what's not, that's wrong. Fine me if you want. That's the truth.'
The flap over the review, the fatal late call, they left Porter questioning how this could happen.
'That lets you know where his head was at early in the game,' Porter said of Blum. 'He's the head ref. He's got the white hat on. And he doesn't know if that play is reviewable. A simple play like that.
'When the game is on the line, the refs shouldn't be able to make calls like they did today.'''
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