Steelers keep possession on highly controversial fumble review vs. Bills
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost one fumble in the first quarter of their matchup with the Buffalo Bills and very easily could have lost another.
Pittsburgh tight end Pat Freiermuth caught a pass from quarterback Mason Rudolph with about a minute left in the first quarter and rumbled for 33 yards down the left sideline. However, he was hit by Christian Benford and lost the ball before he was down.
Bills linebacker Baylon Spector appeared to recover the fumble in bounds, which would have given the ball back to the Bills, already with a 14-0 lead.
Instead, officials ruled that there was a fumble on the field but that the ball was not recovered in bounds by the Bills. Buffalo challenged the call, but it was determined that the call stands. You can watch the controversial play below:
Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and rules analyst Gene Steratore discussed the call during the broadcast. Steratore felt that Spector recovered the ball in bounds but that perhaps the ball touched the helmet of Freiermuth.
The play ultimately cost Buffalo a timeout and its last challenge of the game.
“The out of challenge point, I think, is a huge point right now,” Steratore said. “We know that if you win the first challenge, you’ve got to win both, so now that he’s lost one, we are now going to play over three quarters of football without Buffalo challenging outside of two minutes.”
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The Bills led the Steelers 14-0 at the time of the fumble.
Steelers, Bills fans wade through snow to find seating for Wild Card game
Buffalo Bills fans spent hours before their team’s home playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers by shoveling snow out of the stands in time for kickoff.
Those volunteers did everything they could to clear the stadium for their fellow fans using shovels, gloves, and even at times, their bodies.
Watch some of the winter madness below:
Originally slated for Sunday, a massive snowstorm forced the NFL and local government to deem that playing the game for its originally slated time would have been too dangerous for those in the stands and on the field.
Before game day, a weather report noted that the city of Buffalo was expected to gain approximately 12.75 inches of snow in the next 48 hours with max wind gusts hitting 42 MPH. While people in the community have been told to stay home, people had still been out on the roads — for better or for worse.