The Pittsburgh Steelers have raced out to a 14-3 lead early in their Week 4 contest against the Minnesota Vikings, and they very well could have an even bigger lead. Early in the first quarter, though, a touchdown from Jalen Ramsey off a scoop and score fumble recovery was called back in controversial fashion.
On 2nd & 4, Vikings running back Jordan Mason seemed to pick up a first down on the ground for his team. As he went to the ground, though, Chuck Clark punched the ball out at the last minute, with Ramsey being the first to hop on it and return it to the house the other way for a score.
The only problem was that the referees ended up ruling that the play should have been blown dead before Ramsey recovered the fumble. While Mason did lose the ball, his legs were out of bounds when he came down, and when he touched the ball while out of bounds, the play was ruled to be over. So not only did Pittsburgh not score, but it didn’t even get the football for its offense.
The Steelers’ defense held strong after this unfortunate turn of events, as they limited the Vikings to just a field goal on this drive. Their next two drives on offense would yield touchdowns from Kenneth Gainwell and DK Metcalf, which helped give them a commanding lead over the Vikings in the early going.
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Pittsburgh still has a lot of work to do to win this game, and if the team ends up losing, chances are this play will become an even bigger topic of discussion. The Steelers have done a great job of overcoming it so far, though, and time will tell whether or not they can hold on and pick up their third victory of the new season.
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