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| Tuesday, September 26 Associated Press | |||
| PITTSBURGH -- For the second week in a row, the NFL
apologized to the Pittsburgh Steelers. A week ago, following a loss to the Cleveland Browns, the league
acknowledged the Steelers should have gotten an extra 5 seconds
after Kent Graham was sacked late in the fourth quarter. The clock ran out as Pittsburgh tried unsuccessfully to attempt a field goal. This week,
coach Bill Cowher said the NFL acknowledged referee Walt Coleman
should have granted Pittsburgh a touchdown after reviewing a play
in a 23-20 loss to Tennessee. "It should have been a touchdown," Cowher said Tuesday.
"That's great to know." On the final play of the third quarter, Graham threw a 17-yard
pass to Hines Ward, who was ruled down at the Tennessee 1-yard line. Cowher challenged the call, and Coleman ruled the replay was
inconclusive, costing the Steelers a timeout as well as the score. The loss of the timeout came into play when, on the Steelers'
final drive, Pittsburgh used its final timeout before Kris Brown
missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt. "We would have had another timeout at the end of the game,"
Cowher said. "There are a lot of things that could have taken
place." Cowher called the incident "water over the dam," but said the
Steelers (0-3) have enough problems without them being compounded
by officiating errors. The Steelers are 30th in the NFL in completion percentage, pass
defense and kickoff coverage, and 29th in sacks. They are last in
the AFC in total defense. "But we are putting ourselves in a situation to be
successful," Cowher said. "We're just not finishing it. We're not
finishing drives and we're not finishing games." | ALSO SEE McNair to the rescue: Titans rally for victory | ||
