Last night, I watched the Steelers game with friends from Pittsburgh in a perfect day of food and football. The game produced a controversy that rivals the NBA “Great Spill” controversy of 2013. In this case, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin appeared to many to intentionally stand in front of Baltimore Ravens’ Jacoby Jones as he was running toward a potential game winning touchdown in the second half. His actions seemed to force Jones to move away from the line and allow a tackle by a Steelers defender. The Ravens still won but the question lingers.
The kick return was a magnificent run by Jones until he found Tomlin in his path. He zigged infield and was nailed by Pittsburgh corner Cortez Allen who tackled him at the 27-yard line. The fact is that he might not have made the final yardage, but Jones appeared to point at Tomlin after the play in protest. Worse yet, Tomlin appeared to grim after the play, confirming the suspicions of many Ravens fans. As Poe would say, “the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling.”
The incident brought back memories of the controversy of New York Jets assistant coach Sal Alosi tripping Miami’s Nolan Carroll. I do not understand how a coach could remain on the line in this way and not be sanctioned. This was a close game and Tomlin clearly watched as Jones approached his position — moving at the last possible moment.
What do you think?
Appropriate sanctions are in order, enough that it imbues behavior modification and discourages this behavior in others.
He should be fined $500,000 – just like Belechik was in ’07 for Spygate:
Obtaining film of Jets defense game plans.
Bush League move at the very best–$50K fine and one game suspension–intent has nothing to do with it–a lot of infractions aren’t intentional but still an infraction.
I’m with pete
Yes he should be fined. His big cheesy smile says it all.