After suffering a frustrating 27-22 loss against divisional rivals, the Steelers, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh criticized the officiating for various decisions. During his post-game press conference, Harbaugh asked about a controversial decision involving Steelers QB1 Aaron Rodgers, who surprisingly caught the deflected ball after linebacker Teddye Buchanan intercepted his pass.

“You know what, I believe a lot of things,” John Harbaugh said, as reported by Sarah Ellison.”I think the Aaron Rodgers play [overturned interception] – and we’re just talking about rules here, it’s not an officiating issue. It comes from New York. But when you’re making a catch, you have to survive the ground. He didn’t survive the ground. He’s not down by contact. He was catching the ball on the way down with another person, so you gotta make a catch there and survive the ground. I don’t know why it was ruled the way it was on that one.”

Looking back at the call, the referees initially ruled that Buchanan had intercepted the pass, which was then batted back toward the quarterback. However, moments later, on a replay, the decision was overturned to a catch by Rodgers for a seven-yard loss.

The Steelers QB1 threw for 284 yards and a touchdown and even ran for a TD, recording his best game in yellow and black. This performance also helped Pittsburgh take the top spot in the AFC North. On the other hand, the Ravens fell to a 6-7 record and were pushed out of the playoff race; hence, coach Harbaugh’s frustrations continued as he highlighted another incident involving the officials.

Jim Harbaugh on the Travis Jones incident

Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones received a flag for roughing the long snapper on a Chris Boswell field goal in the second quarter, which led the Steelers to score a touchdown after picking up the first down on the penalty.

Reacting to the incident, Harbaugh was heard yelling at officials as he argued that Jones did not make contact with Christian Kuntz’s head or neck during the game, and he reiterated the same point in his press conference.

“I didn’t see head and neck contact,” Harbaugh said. “That is what I did not see. You need to have head and neck area contact, and it’s gotta be forceful contact, not incidental contact. I didn’t see any contact myself.”

Now, with the Ravens’ playoff hopes rapidly dwindling, Baltimore must avoid these mistakes when it takes on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15.