More than two months after a Pittsburgh Steelers’ win in Baltimore, the NFL is saying that it got a controversial call wrong in that game.
During the Steelers’ 27-22 victory Dec. 7, Aaron Rodgers caught his own pass that was batted back in his face. Baltimore linebacker Teddye Buchanan seemed to have simultaneous possession with Rodgers as the passer was going down to a knee.
At first, the on-field officials gave the ball to the Ravens, ruling an interception. Upon replay reversal, though, Rodgers was ruled to have possession of the ball while being touched down. So the Steelers got to keep possession instead of losing the ball in their own end of the field.
On Tuesday, ProFootballTalk reported that a league spokesperson said the NFL eventually thought the wrong ruling was sent to the on-field officials.
A league spokesperson confirmed to @ProFootballTalk that this play in the Ravens Week 14 loss to the Steelers should have been ruled an INT after NFL EVP of Football Operations Troy Vincent said there were reviews the league wishes they could have backpic.twitter.com/o3oNiyoimE
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) February 24, 2026
The timing seems strange on this one, doesn’t it? This play was frequently cited online in the wake of the debated Ja’Quan McMillian interception of a pass thrown by Josh Allen in Denver during the AFC playoffs. During the play, McMillian wrestled the ball away from Brandin Cooks as the Buffalo receiver was being touched on the ground.
JOSH ALLEN GETS PICKED OFF IN OVERTIME ????
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 18, 2026
Ja'Quan McMillian takes it right out of Brandin Cooks' hands and it's Broncos ball! pic.twitter.com/v6Xe4jIlxS
Yet that play was allowed to stand as a pick, whereas the Rodgers interception was overturned. Bills fans saw these two plays as a massive inconsistency, and they have a point.
It almost feels like the NFL is attempting to justify the huge call in the playoffs by way of preferring to go back in time and admit a mistake during a regular-season game.
That’s the second play from that game the NFL admits went awry. A day after that loss, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh revealed that the league office told him the officials shouldn’t have flagged Travis Jones for an unnecessary roughness foul against Pittsburgh long snapper Christian Kuntz.
A field goal on that play was taken off the board as a result, and the Steelers scored a touchdown instead on the next play to take a 17-3 lead.
John Harbaugh revealed the NFL admitted they got this unnecessary roughness penalty on Travis Jones WRONG
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) December 8, 2025
It ended up costing the Ravens four points pic.twitter.com/0kBCg6GiD0
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson and tight end Isaiah Likely went to social media to poke fun at the proceedings.
????????????”Quote tweet is under further review”????????♂️
— Isaiah Likely (@DaGorilla4) February 24, 2026
Keep in mind, Jackson also hit Likely for a touchdown that was eventually overruled. It would’ve given Baltimore the lead with less than three minutes left. But they ended up losing the ball on downs.
Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy popped off as well.
Have we ever seen the NFL come out months after a game has been played ( a couple weeks after the entire nfl season finished) and admitted they didn’t get 1 huge crucial call in the biggest NFL rivalry game. But they got 2 Crucial calls in same Game wrong!!! So the total was 3…
— Kyle Van Noy (@KVN_03) February 24, 2026
The Steelers ended up winning the AFC North at 10-7. Baltimore concluded its season 8-9.
