Sports

Controversial Fumble Rulings In Steelers-Bills Game Stir Up Social Media

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A referee holds a football before spotting it on the field.

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A pair of controversial fumble rulings early in an NFL Playoff matchup between the Steelers and Bills have fans on social media talking.

One resulted in a Buffalo recovery while another stayed with Pittsburgh.

In the first quarter of the game, the Steelers ran into disaster when wide receiver George Pickens turned the ball over deep in his team’s territory.

Initially ruled an incomplete pass, the Bills challenged the ruling on the field.

Officials decided Pickens had control of the ball, made a football move, then lost possession. Not everyone on agreed.

“If that’s fumble, then DEZ CAUGHT IT,” one fan wrote.

“They ruled it incomplete on the field. It shouldn’t have been overturned,” said another.

Of course, fandom might’ve had something to do with those responses as a majority of viewers believed the call to be correct.

Steelers supporters saw their team fall behind 14-0 on the very next play when Josh Allen connected with Dalton Kincaid to double an early Buffalo lead.

Viewers weren’t so sure about the next case, however, and the officiating crew did very little to explain their decision.

Controversial Bills-Steelers fumble stirs social media

Later in the first half, Pittsburgh tight end Pat Friermuth hauled in a long pass before being hit by a Buffalo defender. That shot very clearly knocked the ball loose, and it appeared a Bills player recovered the fumble to give his team another takeaway.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case.

Referees ruled the fumble out of bounds, though there wasn’t much clarity given on the call.

There are a couple of different possibilities on why the ball stayed with Pittsburgh. The first involves the ball possibly touching Friermuth’s helmet with a foot out of bounds. Though he didn’t gain possession, that could’ve ruled the ball dead.

The other would be that the Bills player didn’t secure the ball before he touched the sidelines

Again, no one’s quite sure the answer due to the lack of clarification. Even Jim Nantz and Tony Romo were confused as to what the official ruling was.

A little explanation would’ve been nice!

It wouldn’t matter much for the Steelers as they threw an interception in the endzone later in the drive. For Bills fans that questioned that initial ruling, it was the ultimate “Ball Don’t Lie” moment.