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Steelers unhappy campers at last call

Sunday, January 12, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Joe Nedney’s overtime kick from 31 yards went through the uprights, the Tennessee fans in the end zone stood on their feet and fireworks began shooting above The Coliseum, celebrating a Titans victory.

	Dewayne Washington is penalized for running into Titans kicker Joe Nedney in overtime. (Lawrence Jackson, Associated Press)

And that was before the real fireworks.

That kick by Nedney didn’t count because the Steelers called a timeout just before the Titans snapped the ball. So Nedney and the Titans had to do it over again, and what happened from that point on last night had the Steelers on the verge of committing a Music City Massacre. On the officials.

“For a game to be decided on that call is ludicrous,” Coach Bill Cowher angrily said afterward.

The Steelers’ season came to a stunning close in a 34-31 overtime loss to the Titans, and it ended with the Steelers upset at the officials for a call they did make -- and one they wouldn’t allow the Steelers to make.

The most disturbing was a 5-yard penalty against cornerback Dewayne Washington for running into Nedney after he missed a 31-yard field goal on second down, giving the Titans another chance at a field goal.

“They were going off the field mad, we were going off happy and here comes a flag,” said inside linebacker James Farrior.

With a second chance, Nedney kicked a 26-yarder through the uprights, but not before the Steelers claim they were denied a chance to call another timeout in an attempt to ice him.

Linebacker Jason Gildon said he told umpire Chad Brown he was going to call a timeout right before Nedney attempted the 26-yard field goal. But Gildon said Brown told him the Steelers were out of timeouts, even though the Steelers had two timeouts in overtime remaining.

“I even called him by his first name,” Gildon said. “I said, ‘Chad, we’re going to take a timeout,’ and he said we didn’t have a timeout.”

That incident merely added more frustration for the Steelers, who rallied from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit and took a 31-28 lead with 8:30 remaining on a 40-yard field goal by rookie Jeff Reed.

But the call against Washington, who was charging from the right side in an attempt to block Nedney’s kick, had them incensed.

And a number of players with tears in their eyes.

“I saw a kicker who had kicked the ball and [was] taking a couple of steps and Dewayne sliding on the ground and fell into him,” Cowher said. “If a game is to be decided because a kicker takes two steps and we have a guy slide into him after going 4 1/2 quarters with guys laying it on the line and it goes down to that. Let the players play it on the field.

“In overtime, as a ref, you don’t make a call like that,” linebacker Joey Porter said. “You shouldn’t be able to make that call. [Nedney] missed the kick. It was a chip shot, and you bailed him out. He choked, and [the referee] bailed him out.

“All I know is one thing is going to stick in my mind -- that ref took the game away from us. It came down. I know we should still be playing. I’m not ever going to be mad at the way we played. We played hard the whole game. The only thing that mattered was he took the game away from us.”

“It’s a bad call,” Gildon said. “The ball was away. If anything, [Nedney] landed on top of Dewayne. [The referee] should let the players decide the game.”

Hines Ward, fighting back tears and stopping in midsentence to gather himself, said the game shouldn’t have come down to the call against Washington, who helped set up the winning field goal by missing a tackle on Titans receiver Justin McCareins on a 31-yard pass-and-run to the Steelers’ 38.

“In a close ball game like that, I can’t really complain about the officiating,” said Ward, who had two touchdown catches. “The guy missed it, but it didn’t have to come down to that.”

Porter, though, disagreed. He sat on a stool at his locker, still wearing his grass-stained jersey, long after the game ended. In his mind, he thought he should still be on the field, fighting with a chance to advance to the AFC championship game.

Instead, he was seething about what he perceived to be a bad call from an official that ended the Steelers’ season.

“That’s what it came down to,” Porter said. “You can’t say it shouldn’t have come down to that because it did. It was what it was. They threw the flag two seconds late. We’re celebrating, then he throws the flag. For them to take the game away from us, it doesn’t make sense.”

Referee Ron Blum said Washington was penalized 5 yards for running into -- not roughing -- the kicker.

“Running into the kicker, to where he made contact with the kicker,” Blum said. “Not hitting the plant foot, which would define roughing, but running into, making solid contact and knocking the kicker either down or off balance.”

On the play, Washington lined up, as he always does, on the right side of the line of scrimmage. His role is to beat the outside blocker -- in this instance, Titans tight end Erron Kinney -- and get around the corner. From that angle, he tries to dive and block the kick.

“I was coming off the edge,” Washington said. “I’m trying to get around Kinney. I tried to do what I can do to make him miss, and he missed the kick.”

Curiously, the Steelers had received several reprieves in overtime in the regular season. They beat Cleveland in overtime in Week 3 when Kimo von Oelhoffen blocked Phil Dawson’s winning field-goal attempt with his helmet. Then, in a 34-34 tie with the Atlanta Falcons, Farrior blocked a 56-yard attempt by Jay Feely with one second remaining.

Not this time.

Washington was penalized, giving Nedney another chance. When he converted from 26 yards, despite Gildon’s attempt to call a timeout, the game was over.

“You can clearly see ... his foot wasn’t in the air [when I hit him],” Washington said. “His feet were clearly down.”

And, so, clearly, were the Steelers.