Mike Florio ,
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Referee Alex Kemp’s crew had a very interesting day in Pittsburgh, on a fairly basic matter of penalty enforcement.
After the Steelers’ first touchdown of the day, receiver DK Metcalf was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Kemp announced that the 15-yard foul would be enforced on the kickoff (pushing the spot of the kick to the 20) and not on the try (making it a 48-yard PAT attempt).
CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said on the broadcast that the officials had erred, that a penalty after a touchdown is always enforced on the try. After halftime, Steratore corrected himself, explaining that a post-TD penalty occurring after the ball has been made ready for play on the try is enforced at the option of the other team — on the try or on the ensuing kickoff.
He’s right. Which means Steratore was initially incorrect when he said the officiating crew got it wrong.
And then, amazingly, it happened again.
After Buffalo’s second touchdown of the second half, Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward was flagged for taunting. When announcing the penalty, Kemp said it would be enforced on the kickoff.
This time, Steratore was not brought in. This time, no mention was even made of a potential enforcement error. And, this time, a clear error occurred.
The penalty, as PFT has confirmed through multiple sources, happened before the ball was declared to be ready for play on the try. The penalty should have been enforced on the try, giving the Bills the choice of kicking with the snap from the 7.5 yard line or going for two from the one. (The Bills missed the PAT, with the snap from the 15.) Instead, the Bills kicked off from the 50.
And so the first incident, which Steratore said was a mistake, wasn’t a mistake. And the second incident, despite CBS’s silence on the issue, was a clear mistake.
It’s a bizarre outcome. The mistake wasn’t fixed by the replay assistant or the league office, which surely was aware of the questions raised about the mistake that wasn’t made earlier in the game. They should have been paying extra attention to the issue.
Instead, everyone was asleep at the switch.
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