On Wednesday, Nets coach Jason Kidd gave us Cupgate. On Thanksgiving night, in a Steelers-Ravens divisional clash that wasn't lacking for dramatic, game-changing quirks, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin stepped up — literally — with his own sly bit of well-timed sideline tap-dancing.
The Steelers had just trimmed their deficit to 13-7 in the third quarter when on the ensuing kickoff, Baltimore's burner of a return man, Jacoby Jones, broke free up the left sideline. Only Tomlin, with his back to the play seemingly watching the footrace on the Jumbotron, had wandered through the white-painted sideline area into the field of play, perilously close to Jones' path.
Tomlin hop-scotched out of the way at the last instant, and Jones was dragged down at the Pittsburgh 27-yard line, preventing a possible touchdown. The Ravens wound up with a field goal on the drive and held on for a 22-20 win — or else the controversy would have been amplified, because the replays show Tomlin sneaking a peek over his shoulder for just how to time his "block" on Jones.
Call it canny gamesmanship or call it low-down cheating, it's a good bet the NFL will look into the incident and possibly levy a fine against Tomlin. The referees were within their rights to flag the Steelers for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play — as happened to the Jets last Sunday against the same Ravens — and even could have awarded a touchdown if they judged the interference prevented a score.
Tomlin said, by way of explanation, he always tracks those plays on the big screen.
"It provides a better perspective for me," Tomlin said. "I lost my placement as he broke free and saw at the last second how close I was to the field of play.
"I was wrong. I accept responsibility for it."
And Jones, though he gestured at the Steelers sideline right after he was tackled, wasn't pointing fingers.
"I don't blame other people's actions," Jones said. "I still should have scored."
But Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco wasn't so shy about blasting Tomlin's tactic.
"I took some flak for joking around in the Super Bowl and saying that maybe you should just run onto the field and tackle somebody if this guy breaks it. That's exactly what he just did," Flacco said, according to CSN Baltimore.
"He was looking at the big screen the whole entire time. He knew where he was, and he knew where Jacoby was. He pulled my move."
And Baltimore wideout Torrey Smith mocked Tomlin's two-step in a post on Instagram that carried the caption: "Do the stanky legggggg."
With AP
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