Pittsburgh game-winning penalty uncalled?

[SmittyBacall]

No sour grapes here. Just a question for neutral fans. Poor clock management and a decimated roster are more to blame than one play. But did Justin Hunter illegally block/pick our nickel corner on their game winning touchdown? It seems clear Hunter engaged McCrae before the ball as thrown. Should this have been called? Did the refs miss this? What is the official ruling?

[Malfatron]

its close, and i would prefer that if its close, for the refs to not make a call

i blame the bengals for this loss

might be nail in the coffin for lewis. hes gone unless they get far in the playoffs

[FinSting]

Two receivers, but only one DB. That's just not smart defense. 

[ET80]

You can't decide a game like this unless it's an egregious foul. This is close, but solid no-call IMO.

[theJ]

39 minutes ago, Malfatron said:

might be nail in the coffin for lewis. hes gone unless they get far in the playoffs

So loss #16 to the Steelers is the nail in the coffin?  Not loss #15?

[August4th]

NFL came out and said the corner caused the contact.. so no OPI

[theJ]

Also, i blame McRae for this.  He knew he had inside when the receivers stacked.  He still took a half step outside even though Brown literally never went that direction.  It was really bad defense.

This never gets called as a penalty.  I think it should, but it's not.  So it can't be called in this case either.

[theJ]

41 minutes ago, FinSting said:

Two receivers, but only one DB. That's just not smart defense. 

The other DB was stacked about 8 yards back and had outside coverage.

[theJ]

3 minutes ago, theJ said:

43 minutes ago, Malfatron said:

might be nail in the coffin for lewis. hes gone unless they get far in the playoffs

So loss #16 to the Steelers is the nail in the coffin?  Not loss #15?

Also, the Bengals remaining schedule includes:

Bucs
Browns x2
Broncos
Raiders

Plus Ravens (already beat once), and the Steelers again. 

This loss hurts them for sure, but there's plenty of season left.  The nail in the coffin won't come until they're 6-9 and lose that last game of the season to the Steelers again.

[drd23]

42 minutes ago, August4th said:

NFL came out and said the corner caused the contact.. so no OPI

 

Al Riveron is blind if he thinks McRae initiated the contact

Oh, and to answer the question - yes it was a penalty but it'd never get called - both because of the game situation and because the NFL will always favour the offense

[theJ]

6 minutes ago, drd23 said:

 

Al Riveron is blind if he thinks McRae initiated the contact

I agree that the Pitt WR ran into McRae.  But as a defender, the only way to sell this is to not put your hands up.  Try to be running toward Brown and not actively look like you're trying to jam the WR.  Because i can see why people would think.

[MWil23]

This penalty rarely if ever gets called, and NEVER gets called with the game on the line (unless it's Notre Dame/FSU). See: The Patriots 2nd 2 Point Conversion vs. Atlanta on the tunnel screen.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

You're already allowed 1-2 yards off the line to block as a WR on these plays, so regardless of who initiated contact that play would never be called with him blocking that close to the line. I don't see anything worth flagging here.

[Malik]

1 hour ago, theJ said:

I agree that the Pitt WR ran into McRae.  But as a defender, the only way to sell this is to not put your hands up.  Try to be running toward Brown and not actively look like you're trying to jam the WR.  Because i can see why people would think.

This and his teammate was already telling him that was going to be the play. It's a design that's so common that defenses have to be smarter about defending it at this point.

[sp6488]

2 hours ago, August4th said:

NFL came out and said the corner caused the contact.. so no OPI

This was my thinking, it looked like #29 extended his arms, or at least close enough that it's tough to call an illegal pick.