Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin Prevents Ravens’s Jacoby Jones From a Kick-Return Touchdown by Stepping Onto Field … “The Tomlin Tackle”

If it is Thanksgiving Football, we are most certain to have a controversial play …

In 1993 there was the bone-head touching of the blocked field goal by Leon Lett in the Thanksgiving Day game between the Cowboys and Dolphins on the frozen, icy, snowy field in old Cowboy Stadium. 1n 1998 there was the botched referee coin flip in OT between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers that cost the Steelers the game.  In 2012 there was the the Patriots-Jets finale game that on Thanksgiving Daynight gave us the infamous “butt fumble” by Mark Sanchez.  Now we have the “Tomlin” tackle.  As the Ravens’s Jacoby Jones gets the kick off and is about to bring it back for a TD, he had one man to beat. Who knew it would be Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin? What is even more unbelievable than Tomlin saying it was not intentional was the fact that the referee running down the sideline on the play and had to avoid Tomlin, never called any type of foul. HUH? In a day in which one sometimes think the NFL has turned into a “flag” football league where teams are no longer allowed to hit and play defense, how do the referee’s miss this call? The ref could have given Baltimore a touch down, he could have called an sportsman-like penalty for a player/coach being in a restricted area of the field. He did nothing.

Check the tape below. Tomlin can be seen standing in the stripe of white paint that nestles the field, facing away from Jones as he comes racing up the sideline during his 73-yard return.

The replay clearly shows Tomlin shifting his eyes from the video board to Jones, hopping out of the way just in time. No contact was made, but Tomlin’s proximity to the field of play appeared to be a factor in Jones deciding to cut back toward the middle of the field where he was tackled by Pittsburgh’s Cortez Allen.

Judge for yourselves.

Tomlin explained the play after the game: “I always watch the returns on the Jumbotron; it provides a better perspective for me. Obviously, I lost my placement as he broke free, and saw at the last second how close I was to the field of play.”

“It broke my stride a little bit,” Jones admitted, “(but) I still shouldn’t have got caught.”

Screen grab from VIDEO – click on pic to watch VIDEO

Baltimore Raven’s QB  Joe Flacco accused Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin of intentionally interfering (VIDEO) to stop Jacoby Jones from scoring on a kickoff return. Well yea, I have no pony in this race as I basically dislike both teams, and it was pretty obvious that it was intention. Especially, with the grins that Tomlin had on his face like a little boy who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

After the Steelers scored to close to 13-7 in the third quarter, Jones broke free down the sideline but slowed up with Tomlin on the white stripe near the field of play — with his foot on the field at one point as Jones neared his location. Tomlin, who had his back to the play, was not penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct but Flacco believes he should have been.

It was nine months ago at the Super Bowl that Flacco took flak for suggesting to teammates that they should run out on the field to tackle Ted Ginn Jr. on the final play.

“That’s exactly what he just did,” Flacco said. “He was looking at the big screen the whole entire time, he knew where he was, he knew where Jacoby was. He pulled my move.”

NFL Rulebook: rule 13 section 1 article 4.

RESTRICTED AREAS Article 4 All team personnel must observe the zone restrictions applicable to the bench area and the border rimming the playing field. The only persons permitted within the solid six-foot white border (1-1) while play is in progress on the field are game officials. For reasons involving the safety of participating  players whose actions may carry them out of bounds, officials’ unobstructed coverage of the game, and spectators’ sightlines to the field, the border rules must be observed by all coaches and players in the bench area. Violators are subject to penalty by the officials.

The NFL can thank their lucky stars that Pittsburgh did not come back and win this game as the Raven’s only ended up getting a FG after this run back, rather than the 7 points they should have. The NFL is to review the play and I would expect that a harsh penalty is going to have to come down on this. You can’t allow this to happen again. Look for the referee to get smacked down too and down-graded.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin should have been penalized for stepping on the field last night and the play will be reviewed for discipline over the next week, an NFL official confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.