NFL rules analyst Gene Steratore says officials got it right on 2 calls that went against Steelers in win vs. Rams

Even though the Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams, there were a pair of calls Sunday that went against the Black and Gold that had Pittsburgh fans scratching their heads.

But in both cases, former NFL referee and current CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said the officials on the field got the call right. He’s a Uniontown native and Washington County resident.

The first debate was over Puka Nacua’s spectacular catch along the sideline in the third quarter.

PUKA NACUA WHAT A CATCH pic.twitter.com/ZJaH98kRMP

— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) October 22, 2023

Many in Pittsburgh thought that wasn’t a natural toe-tap catch and that because Nacua’s heel came down out of bounds after his right toes came down in bounds, the completion should’ve been overruled by replay.

Fox Sports analyst Dean Blandino offered this explanation in support of the ruling, suggesting that since Nacua wasn’t taking a “normal step” with his right foot the completion was properly upheld.

Toe-heel or heel-toe only applies when it’s a normal step. Normal step the whole foot has to be in. If it’s not a normal step like a toe tap or toe drag then any part of the foot counts. Nakua wasn’t taking a normal step so once the toes touched he was in bounds.

— Dean Blandino (@DeanBlandino) October 22, 2023

Appearing on WDVE Tuesday morning, Steratore agreed with Blandino’s analysis, the ruling on the field and the interpretation from the booth.

“It’s not really a normal flat-footed, toe (to) heel because the foot turns to its side. So it’s kind of on the outside of his foot as the toe hits. And then the side of the foot lands at the end. The side of the heel and foot kind of gets out of bounds. They don’t define that as a normal step. So now you give him the credit for basically a toe-tap. It’s kind of a reverse toe-tap because the step wasn’t a normal backward step,” Steratore explained.

Later in the game, former Steeler Ahkello Witherspoon was busted for a pass interference call on a third down while trying to defend Pittsburgh’s Diontae Johnson. After seeing the flag, Johnson yapped at his former teammate and got a taunting penalty.

Had the penalties been ruled separately, the Steelers would’ve lost yardage from the spot of the ball after the foul but would’ve picked up an automatic first down initially because of the pass interference and could’ve just killed the clock anyway.

However, the officials ruled that the penalties offset, so the teams had to replay third down.

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Even though the pass interference call happened during the action of the play and the taunting penalty happened after the whistle, Steratore said the officials adjudicated the penalties in the proper manner.

“It’s a difference between college and professional football,” Steratore explained. “College goes live ball/dead ball. They are very strict about how they define that in detail. In the NFL, the play doesn’t really end until the ball is set for the following play. So in that moment where a play ends and we have a taunt or a situation that occurs just as the play ended, it gets put into the bucket of the previous play. So it became an offset which we saw happen in this situation.”

In other words, as Steratore described, in college, they penalize in order of occurrence. In the NFL, they bundle them.

Fortunately for the Steelers, they picked up eight yards on the replay of the third down and got the rest of the necessary yardage to move the chains on Kenny Pickett’s ensuing fourth-down quarterback sneak.

Oh, and speaking of controversial calls, what did Steratore think of that one? Did Kenny Pickett actually get the first down or not?

Was this a first down?

????: FOX pic.twitter.com/IVxhKih7Ja

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 22, 2023

“He’s short,” Steratore said.

Unfortunately for the Rams, they didn’t have any timeouts left. So they couldn’t challenge. And there were still more than two minutes left in the game, so the booth couldn’t intercede on its own.

So I guess every big call didn’t go against the Steelers.

Listen: Tim Benz and Chris Adamski wrap up Mike Tomlin’s press conference in advance of Sunday’s game against Jacksonville.

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