The Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely is at the center of decision-making controversy in the NFL. The home team suffered its seventh loss of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14 at M&T Bank Stadium. But their Super Bowl-winning TE, Dennis Pitta, launched a no-holds-barred attack at the tight end for his poor technique.

“If you go back in this game to Isaiah Likely’s first touchdown, and you watch what he did when he caught that football, he caught it and then immediately protected it like this. And so you see him in an urgent situation catching the ball and protecting it,” Pitta said on the 98 Rock show.

“Now, in this particular play, he reached out, caught it, and kept it, he could have done the same thing. He could have easily caught it and immediately clutched it and had an additional security against his chest with both hands.”

That’s exactly what happened. Likely caught the ball in stride with his hands spread out, but cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was on his tail and punched the ball out of his hands before the tight end completed the 3rd step, which became the reason for disallowing the touchdown.

Had Isaiah Likely kept the ball close to his chest, he would have easily defended the ball. He could have easily completed the touchdown as he was already standing in the end zone. But all these things are a matter of the past now. The controversial rollback has ignited a fierce debate between the franchise and the league.

There have been voices of support as well. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger surprised everyone with his stance on the touchdown. He claimed that Likely was in the end zone, so he wasn’t thinking about the end zone. Hence, he contested the NFL’s reason behind not allowing the score on his Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger podcast.

According to NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth, the tight end completed two elements of a successful/complete catch. He caught the ball clean and had two feet in bounds, but the third step became an issue. So, the league stood by its decision in Likely’s case. But it made a vital mistake earlier that gave a crucial advantage to the visitors.

NFL accepts mistakes in the second quarter of the Week 14 matchup

At the 6:13 mark in the second quarter, on 4th & 1 play, kicker Chris Boswell kicked the 32-yard field goal. But the league nullified it as the referees flagged defensive tackle Travis Jones for unnecessary roughness on long snapper Christian Kuntz and enforced a 7-yard penalty as well.

It took the Steelers to Baltimore 6 with a fresh set of downs. The Black and Gold made full use by scoring a touchdown, gaining an extra four points. Along with Isaiah Likely’s overturned touchdown, these two mistakes proved crucial in their 27-22 loss.

However, head coach John Harbaugh, general manager Eric DeCosta, and former NFL referee Tony Michalek got on a call with NFL senior VP of officiating administration Perry Fewell and rules analyst Walt Anderson. The NFL admitted its mistake in the Jones’ penalty decision.

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Though the referee Alex Moore defended his call, Harbaugh publicly announced the decision after getting permission from the league. Yes, it hurts, but it doesn’t remove the loss from the Ravens’ record. They have to play as per the rules of the game with the season on the line.