The Pittsburgh Steelers win Saturday night over the Cincinnati Bengals in one of the two AFC Wild Card games included a lot of controversy as it relates to penalties that were and weren’t called on both teams. One of the non-calls came after Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier hit Bengals running back Giovani Bernard up high following a short completion with 1:43 left in the third quarter. Bernard, who was injured on the play, fumbled the football following the hit and the Steelers defense recovered it.
Immediately after the play was over, Mike Carey, a former NFL referee, and Mike Pereira, the former Vice President of Officiating for the NFL, both concluded that Shazier’s hit, while unfortunate, was legal and that the fumble should stand after the play was reviewed.