It would not be a night of NFL football without a controversial call at the end of a tight game.
The Monday Night Football game between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers ended on a fourth down heave by Deshaun Watson to Donovan Peoples-Jones, but the pass sailed out of bounds incomplete. Pittsburgh ran down the clock to secure the 26-22 victory.
But some noticed that there may have been shenanigans on the final pass attempt that went unpenalized by the referees.
Did Porter Jr. get away with a holding or pass interference penalty on the play? You be the judge:
Did refs let Steelers get away with one late against the Browns?
First, yes, it's pretty clear Porter Jr. was holding Peoples-Jones by the jersey. It was blatantly obvious and the fact that no official even threw a flag is pretty astounding.
However, the grasping happened with the ball in the air, so it wasn't a holding penalty. It could only be pass interference.
If the flag had been thrown, we might have seen the officials get together to discuss whether the ball was catchable. That's why it's tricky.
Watson put that ball pretty far on the sideline. It might have been uncatchable. But it's also hard to definitively say that when the DB had such a clear hold on the receiver. Without being impeded, could Peoples-Jones have made a play on the ball? Maybe.
So it does look like the Steelers got away with one. The refs could have and probably should have thrown the flag there.
But they didn't. And realistically, that doesn't mean the refs gave the game to Pittsburgh. Did anything about the performance of the Browns offense in the final minutes make you believe they'd go down and score a touchdown? Cleveland blew it in other ways before the refs blew it on that call.
