
The Baltimore Ravens dropped a big loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and have fallen to 6-7 on the season. Even worse is that they lost first place in the AFC North, and their margin for error has decreased significantly.
Though the Ravens kept pace with the Steelers through most of the game on Sunday, there was one call that may have changed the outcome of the game.
During the fourth quarter, Lamar Jackson threw a pass to Isaiah Likely, which appeared to be and was ruled a touchdown.
After a replay, officials stated it was an incomplete pass after the ball was knocked out of Likely's hands.
Likely appeared to possess the ball and took two steps. However, officials deemed that it was not a catch.
After multiple discussions on the field, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh revealed that he had discussions with the league office about the call.
When Harbaugh was asked if he was "comfortable" with the call, he went into more specifics on what occurred between himself and the league office.
"Am I comfortable? No. Do I think there needs to be more clarification? Yeah, it's about as clear as mud right now. That's how I feel about it," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh also revealed that the he spoke in length with the league office about the call.
"We had a conversation with the league office. They were gracious to spend a lot of time on the phone with myself, Eric, and Tony Michalek and we appreciate that. It didn't clear anything up. It didn't make anything easier to understand. Any one of the two calls. They're very hard to understand, how they get overturned. But they did, and that's where it stands," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh also indicated the overturned touchdown did not cost the Ravens the game.
Interestingly, Harbaugh revealed that the league office did indicate that the call on Travis Jones during the field goal attempt should not have been a personal foul.
"We did discuss the Travis Jones call as well. The Travis Jones call, and they told me I had permission to state this. That was the wrong call. It should not have been called," Harbaugh said.
Jones appeared to block the field goal and landed on a Steelers player. He was called for a personal foul, leading to the Steelers getting a first down.
The controversial calls may have been the deciding factor for the team, but Harbaugh, Jackson, and the rest of the team have not indicated those as excuses for why they lost.
The Ravens will look ahead to the Bengals game to attempt to recapture first place in the AFC North.