The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Word is for Miami's game a week from Sunday vs Pittsburgh that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin might be suspended for it for the stunt he pulled last night.  Not sure the game will mean much nor do I think a head coach missing a game will have a huge impact of what takes place on the field but Tomlin might be suspended for that game.

This is typical of the refs' treatment of the Steelers.  Anyone remember the 2010 game when the refs gave the Steelers the game when Roethlisberger fumbled into the end zone, but the refs decided to give the ball and the game to the Steelers? 

That was the right call in that game. Stupid rule which makes no sense,  but the Refs called it correctly.

Actually they didn't. They could have ruled that Roethlisberger fumbled BEFORE crossing the goal line (which he did) and awarded Miami the football and a touchback. What you mean to say is that once they ruled (incorrectly) that Roethlisberger had scored then it became the ONLY call they could make which of course was the wrong call, but nonetheless the only ruling they could make then. So no, they didn't get it right, I guess you could say they screwed up the call correctly, but that's not the same as getting it right.

In fact that's generally what happens to Miami lately it seems, they screw it up correctly. Just like the TD against New Orleans where the only thing Tedd Ginn ever did right for Miami was chase down a player from behind and knocked an interception loose which traveled through the endzone and should have been called a touchback but was instead ruled a TD. The instant replay was inconclusive so the call stood and then a day or 2 later there was a picture produced that showed the ball had clearly been fumbled prior to crossing the goal line. Since instant replay didn't show it they couldn't overturn it, but had they called it a fumble in the first place (which it was) then they would have HAD to award Miami the ball on the 20. That would have been the right call, technically they screwed it up correctly...again.

I believe the refs assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct on Tomlin during the game for that same play.

Not really.  They could have determined (after reviewing and correctly identifying the fumble) that the Dolphins gained possession, which would have been reasonable given the fact that Misi stood up with the ball.  Or ideally, they could have called the fumble correctly in the first place.

If memory serves, I think the Roethlesberger fumble issue was further complicated by an early whistle blown, ending the play while the ball should have been still live.

Sort of. One of the refs signaled TD. Once he signaled TD, anything that happened after that point (the fumble) is moot so none of the officials bothered to figure out who recovered the football. On replay they determined that it wasn't a TD that clearly the fumble happened before crossing the goal line, but since the replay didn't clearly show who had recovered the football (even though the dolphins came out of the pile with the ball), they could not award it to the Dolphins and gave it to Pittsburgh on the 1 (the spot of the fumble). So technically Pittsburgh was not awarded a TD, but they got the ball back at the 1 which might as well as given them the TD. There was no whistle, but the TD signal effectively stops play as well. They could have still awarded Miami the ball on replay if it clearly showed on the replay Miami recovering the ball but there was a scrum for the ball and it wasn't clear who had recovered.

Tomlin to get a 6 figure fine and the Steelers might lose a couple draft picks. NOW THAT'S A PUNISHMENT!!

I was too full to follow the game clearly.  What happened?

standing too close to the field to the point where he was almost on the field and forced a Ravens player returning a kick to adjust his route and probably/most likely saved Pitt a TD and cost the Ravens a TD.  He may have stuck his foot out and tried to trip the player too in the process of getting out of the way at the last minute.

Video is here
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Mike-Tomlin-Interferes-With-Potential-Touchdown/c3f47606-c8d3-4dfd-9f0a-26a55a610d20

That guy was getting caught regardless. No excuses for Tomlin (who says he always watches the monitors during returns) but that return would have never gone all the way.

He was on the field.

(http://www.usasports360.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Mike-Tomlin-on-field-566x422.jpg)

Even if his foot wasn't in bounds, standing in the out-of-bounds area that close to the field is clear interference.  That play should have been awarded a TD under the "palpably unfair act" clause (like when Flacco talked about tackling The Ginn Family on the final kick of the Super Bowl).

If I were a coach, I would tell my players to simply run into any member of the opposing team that gets that close.  Had Jones touched Tomlin, it would have been a guaranteed TD call.

He pulled a Sal Alosi.

The Sal Alosi incident resulted in a team fine of $100k as the only punishment. This was a case of clear, no-doubt-about-it CHEATING. No draft picks.

To punish the Steelers more than the Jets would be absurd. I think it's entirely possible that Tomlin will get hit with a personal fine, since the league certainly holds high-wage and high-profile employees to higher standards than a lowly assistant.

Spygate, as a comparison, resulted in the maximum allowable personal fine ($500k) and a team fine of $250k (I'm don't know what the limit is, or even if there is one). And the loss of a first-round pick, of course.

"Bountygate" resulted in a $500k team fine for the Saints and the loss of 2 second round picks. The year-long suspension of Sean Payton cost him $8 million, but no fine as such was issued.

Considering that a case can certainly be made that Tomlin's actions were accidental, any sanctions that involved the loss of draft picks seems extremely disproportionate. Tripgate is the clearest comparison and in that case, it was CLEARLY cheating and there was tape of similar prior incidents (with the illegal "wall", but without the trip).

I don't see how you can argue that Tomlin standing on the field of play in the way of the returner is an "accident" but the Alosi wall is "intentional".

Bottom line: Tomlin, the head coach, was standing on the field of play in the direct path of an opposing player.  There is no excuse for this, and this merits a substantial fine on its own.

I think it is proper and appropriate for Goodell to escalate from Alosi's punishment, because apparently teams think this kind of nonsense is still worth trying (and for what it's worth, Tomlin's interference successfully prevented a TD, if only through distraction).

^ Several other coaches (from other teams) have said that it's easy to get "too close to the action" when watching the big screens. I've never stood on a field looking up at the action on a jumbo-tron, so I will cede to those who have.

The Steelers case is worse than the Jets because its the "head coach" acting this way. Not some rank and file assistant coach/strength coach nobody had heard of before that incident. I mean if a "head coach" acts this way that is a horrible reflection on the entire league.

And it does tie somewhat into the Dolphins. Tomlin interviewed with the Fins back in 2007 and the interview went great and Huizenga wanted to hire him. But some of the Dolphins front office staff at the time put the squash on it and told Huizenga not to hire him because Tomlin was too "hip-hop" and couldn't be trusted in this role as head coach. So Huizenga went with Cam Cameron instead.  Now Tomlin has been to 2 Super Bowls and won one and I think is a great head coach and I wish Miami had hired him for obvious reasons....but fast forward to this incident and this is what some of the Dolphins front office back in 2007 were worried about with Tomlin at the time. He wasn't mature enough to handle the head coaching position.

Jones should've lowered his shoulder and broken Tomlinson back

Look at Tomlin's eyes.

(http://cdn1.sbnation.com/assets/3649413/tomlinhop2.gif)

When he "recognizes" that Jones is coming, does Tomlin look down to verify where he (Tomlin) is standing?  Nope, because Tomlin already knows he is standing on the field of play.  In fact, you don't see him look down until Jones runs by, at which point Tomlin appears to be checking whether Jones ran out of bounds.  Tomlin's actions are not those of a man who is surprised to discover that he is not standing where he is supposed to; they are the actions of someone intentionally standing in the way and feigning a last-second attempt to move.

If Tomlin regularly stands on/near the field of play to "watch the jumbotron" then this is no different than the Alosi wall; he engineered a situation and it played out exactly how he had planned it.

It was pretty obvious anyway...why would the coach be looking at the other end of the football field from where the action was going on?

New video has surfaced showing Tomlin slide to the edge of the out-of-bounds area just as Jones breaks free.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/12/02/new-video-angle-shows-mike-tomlin-incident-league-considers-punishment/

If this isn't a lost draft pick, it should be.

I am not a Steelers fan. I actually grew up hating them. With that said I can't see any other way than this was an accident and he was concentrating or paying attention to something else.  Regardless of the fact he has zero history of being a complete penis head anyone who has been around football any length of time has seen coaches and players seriously injured on the sideline while facing the play. Outside of a Johnny Knoxville I really don't see many people who know the risks willing to stand in harms way with their back to the play. That really is a helpless position. The fact it is a run back and players are at full speed makes it even crazier.

He was looking at the jumbotron. Coaches do that all the time (as well as fans in the stands).

CF, did you watch the video I just linked?  As soon as Jones breaks free, Tomlin immediately slides to the edge of the out-of-bounds marker.

This is like believing that Alosi was just stretching his leg as Carroll ran by.  Remember, according to Tomlin he was watching the return on the jumbotron, so he was precisely aware of when Jones turned the corner.

Another factor to consider:  sideline personnel are prohibited from standing on the that large white line at all.  The NFL sent out a video reminding teams of this the day before the Thursday games.

So Tomlin was breaking the rules in the first place by even being on the line, then once Jones broke free, he moved EVEN FURTHER into the prohibited area, even setting a foot on the field.

If Tomlin had been standing entirely on the field, would people still be dismissing this as an accident?  Because it's not like Tomlin was a couple of inches from where he is supposed to be.  He was FAR from where he is allowed to stand, particularly after taking a step towards the field DURING the play (putting himself in the path of the oncoming opponent).

I understand what your saying and what it may appear to look like.  I also know I've walked into traffic while talking on my Bluetooth as I wasn't paying attention. I work in traffic quite often and sometimes forget where I'm at and I've seen others do it too. All I'm saying is if you've ever been standing next to someone on a sideline and seen them get taken out by the play it leaves an impression. I can't see that he would be that stupid as to not only do it but to turn his back to them and allow a free shot with no defense just to save a few yards or in the best case ... a touchdown.

Given that Tomlin's stunt worked and BAL's TD was prevented, it's pretty hard to argue against why he would do such a thing.

I'm with CF on this one, it looked unintentional to me. However, unintentionally doing something against the rules will still get you a penalty. Tomlin is clearly 2+ yards from where he should be at the very minimum. His impact on the play is evident in my mind. Even if he didn't physically touch Jones, he impacted his run by being there. In this case it didn't have an impact on the final result, but it could have. I think a severe penalty is probably in order. Especially if they received a warning just the day before about that sort of activity.

I agree Fau. I don't disagree that he should have been flagged and or fined and punished. I just don't think he did it on purpose.

I think the fact the NFL doesn't regularly enforce the rules is how it happened. People are always standing in the paint when they are supposed to be out of it.

Tomlin was also the most recent addition to the competition committee so expect there to be a definite example set.

^^^ and you think he just accidentally meandered out to where he had a foot on the field with his back to the play? Sorry, I'm just not buying it.

How often do you see people standing resolutely on the field edge of the paint as the play is coming towards them?

People who are not trying to cheat move out of the way well before it becomes an issue.  It's not like Tomlin was busy texting his mom and didn't know what was going on in the game.

Merged the TWO threads regarding the Steelers coach. 

Only Tomlin knows for sure if he did it on purpose or not.  But if he did do it on purpose, that was about as Bush-League as it gets. 

It doesn't matter whether he did it on purpose or not.  It's wrong

I agree that it is wrong either way.  But there is a big difference between wandering into the way because you are being careless and intentionally trying to disrupt the play. 

Stop defending him, coaches don't stand that close to the field. He blocked the Refs path as well which should have been a 15 yard penalty. Tomlin has coached over 100 games this if an accident is a "rookie mistake"....sorry not buying it. It was intentional and the punishment should be severe.

i think it was unintentional and the punishment should be every bit as much as if it was intentional.

intent doesn't matter a single iota

Tomlin is out in full force today "spinning this" big time. Saying punish just him and not the franchise.......uh, doesn't work that way!!

Kim Jong Goodell just fined Tomlin $100K

They should've definitely ruled the play an immediate touchdown.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10077849/mike-tomlin-fined-100k-pittsburgh-steelers-face-loss-picks

$100,00 and will probably lose some draft picks! It's the perfect punishment in my opinion

I don't think it's right to take picks away from them. The Jets didn't lose a pick when Sal Alosi pulled his stunt.  The seat for Tomlin is warming up again

Sal Alosi wasn't a head coach, Tomlin needs to be held to a higher standard. And obviously the punishment the NFL gave Alosi/Jets didn't warn off other coaches (ie Tomlin) from pulling the same stunt. So the punishment MUST be greater now to prevent any other coach from thinking about doing this again.

And stop it about Tomlin being on the hot seat.....its friggin laughable. Steelers have had 3 head coaches since 1969...he isn't getting fired over this. Your "hot seat" hasn't been right all year!!!

If by "will probably" you mean "won't", I think you hit the nail on the head ;-)

There's just no way the NFL will do anything meaningful in terms of pick-forfeiture. If they were going to do anything serious, they would have done so already.

Also note that the Sal Alosi incident resulted in a team fine, just like the Spygate ($250k) and Bountygate ($500k). NO TEAM FINE in this case is a clear indication that the NFL is not going to do anything.

If the Steelers are involved in any other shenanigans this season, all bets are off. Clearly.

Is there chance that Goodell will diddle with the Steelers' late day 3 draft picks? Sure... Goodell has a hard time passing up the chance to throw his weight around... but I think he'll resist this one time.

There are now reports from various sources (incl. nfl.com (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000293006/article/report-pittsburgh-steelers-likely-not-losing-draft-pick)) that the ONLY reason that the language about possible pick(s) being adjusted / lost, is that the Ravens could theoretically lose out on the playoffs due to the 4 additional points they might have attained on the drive in question. Should that exceptionally unlikely scenario happen, the Steelers would then face additional punishment. Otherwise, Goodell appears to have taken a "no harm, no foul" position.

Or, that the picks PIT loses depends on the impact of the points:

- if there is no impact, PIT loses a 6th or 7th, maybe even a supplemental
- if there is an impact, PIT loses anywhere up to a 3rd

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24368513/steelers-will-face-draft-pick-compensation-from-mike-tomlin-incident

Pitt is losing a draft pick!

Kim Jong Goodell strikes again.

Not necessarily. The prevalent thought floating around is that they will lose position rather than losing any picks.