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Chargers-Steelers finish raises eyebrows
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It's not related to Denver sports, other than the fact that the game had potential playoff implications for the Broncos. But the fallout from the end of the Steelers-Chargers game continues to fascinate me.
I just saw Jay Kornegay, the guy who runs the sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton, on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" this afternoon and something he said stopped me cold.
"The books really needed a San Diego win," Kornegay said when asked about the finish. He went on to say that the controversial call at the end of the game that wiped away Troy Polamalu's touchdown on the final play, a score that would have allowed Pittsburgh to cover the five-point spread, probably left the Vegas' odds makers $10 to $12 million to the good.
Now, I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. But something smells fishy here.
Referee Scott Green's explanation for why they erased the touchdown certainly raised some questions. Basically, he ruled the first lateral, from LaDainian Tomlinson to Chris Chambers during the Chargers' last-ditch effort on the game's final play, an illegal forward lateral -- a penalty that the Steelers declined, making the touchdown stand. Then, he ruled that the illegal forward lateral touched the ground, making the play dead because it would have been an incomplete pass. This wiped out the touchdown, even though it was the second lateral, the one thrown by Chambers, that hit the turf.
Doesn't this seem like Green is going to great lengths to overrule a call that had zero impact on the outcome of the game? Either way, Pittsburgh was going to win and San Diego was going to lose. So why keep going over it? It reeks of Green going back until he found an answer that would wipe out the touchdown.
Maybe his explanation is an honest one. Then, instead of being corrupt, Green is simply incompetent.
But it wasn't just the final call that raised my suspicions. The entire game seemed slanted toward the Chargers, so much so that I asked the people I was watching the game with if the NFL was really that desperate to keep San Diego in the playoff chase. At the time, this thought was dismissed as a Broncos homer seeing life through orange-colored glasses. Now, it has more credibility.
How else do you explain the penalty differential during the game? The Steelers were called for 13 penalties, while the Chargers were only flagged twice, one of which was the bogus illegal forward pass on the final play.
That's strange enough. But then consider the timing. During Pittsburgh's game-winning drive, they were flagged for two crucial holding penalties. The first moved the Steelers from the Chargers' 45-yard line back to their own 45, and made the down and distance first-and-20. The second erased Willie Parker's four-yard touchdown run, setting up a third-and-14 from the 14, a distance that forced Pittsburgh to go for a field goal instead of taking another shot at the end zone.
That Parker touchdown would have made the score 15-10, a push at some books and a win for those who had the Steelers early in the week when they were a 4.5-point favorite. And if Pittsburgh had gone for two, which some coach's cheat sheets suggest when leading by four, the home team might have won by six.
The penalties and nullified touchdowns certainly seem strange. It's as though the officials went to great lengths to first keep the score close and then keep the Steelers out of the end zone.
There's probably nothing to it. But it sure seems fishy.
