The Los Angeles Rams were at the center of another officiating controversy Sunday, and this one certainly didn’t go in their favor. On the Steelers’ final drive of the game, Kenny Pickett attempted a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1, and he appeared to go down short of the line to gain.
Officials gave him a favorable spot, and because the Rams were out of timeouts, they were unable to challenge the ruling since it was outside the two-minute warning. The game was over three kneel-downs later.
Sean McVay bit his tongue when asked about it after the game, simply saying “it doesn’t matter what I think.” On Monday, he was more open about the NFL’s review process when discussing it on the “Coach McVay Show”.
He’s all for the NFL using technology and faster replays to get calls right, saying quick reviews don’t disrupt the game like some people think they do. He just wants to see correct calls, especially ones that might impact the outcome of a game like Sunday’s did.
“I don’t see any reason why, because I don’t think it disrupts the timing of it,” McVay said when asked if he’d like to see the NFL use the “eye in the sky” more. “There’s enough situations that are very clear, but there are some that are those, ‘Hey, how it looked out of the (peripheral) or where my eyes were based on the amount of stuff that I’m responsible for looking at as a snap unfolds in 4-6 seconds’ – I’m a fan of getting it right more consistently, especially if we’ve got the technology and availability. I don’t know why you wouldn’t be. Now, how can we make it as efficient as possible? Those are things that are above me, but I’d always rather have it be right.”
That fourth-down spot wasn’t the only one that had McVay scratching his head, either. One play prior, Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was called for defensive pass interference despite barely making contact with Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson on an inaccurately thrown pass.
Johnson was flagged for taunting, which offset Witherspoon’s penalty, but it still remained third down.
“It shouldn’t have gotten to that point, even on the third down, honestly,” McVay said. “I’ll be interested to just see what we’re seeing on the one, even when they had it as offsetting penalties. I’m not so sure I understood that one on the third down on Ahkello. That was interesting for me to understand.”
McVay can’t get too critical of the league’s officials because he stands to be fined if he does speak out publicly, but it’s clear he’s not happy about the way things transpired on Sunday.
