So much for the $100,000 fine imposed on Steelers coach Mike Tomlin keeping coaches out of the white stripe and/or off the field.
According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, Dolphins special-teams coach Darren Rizzi was on the field and collided with an official as Steelers safety Troy Polamalu returned a missed field goal with a couple of laterals just before halftime of the Week 14 game at Heinz Field.
No flag was thrown.
Per Glazer, who had video of the incident, Rizzi quietly was fined $10,000 this week. The difference in punishments between Rizzi and Tomlin surely arises from the difference in title and responsibility. The Dolphins apparently weren’t fined separately for the infraction.
The officials’ failure to throw the flag, which would have given the Steelers an untimed down from the Miami 26 in a game ultimately decided by six points, strengthens the case for adding this specific violation to the list of plays that can be reversed via replay.
We’ve previously reported that the league isn’t inclined to give teams a way to play “gotcha” when a coach strays into the white stripe behind a play. Still, teams currently can secure via replay review five extra yards if a 350-pound lineman fails to get off the field when lumbering to the sideline away from the action. Why not expand that to include coaches who are on the field or in the white stripe?
If fines after the fact don’t clear out the white stripe, a real-time award of field position will.