ALTOONA, Pa. -- On Monday, cornerback Joe Haden took to the podium to explain what happened and then some on the offsides call that negated a touchdown late in the first half of the Steelers' loss to Green Bay Sunday.
With under a minute left in the first half Sunday, Haden and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick exploded through the right side of the Packers' formation with Fitzpatrick ultimately blocking the kick and returning it 75 yards for a touchdown before it was brought back due to Haden being called offsides.
See for yourself.
Finally seen multiple replays. The one below's the most conclusive that Joe Haden was NOT offside. He and Minkah Fitzpatrick both had great jumps, which can be visually misleading, but watch the snap of the ball:pic.twitter.com/mUBnhNhpYR
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) October 3, 2021
Replays looked inconclusive and despite this being a scoring play, it was not reviewed by officials, though it's important to note offsides is not a reviewable play under normal circumstances.
As for Haden himself, well, he summed it up rather succinctly.
"The ball moved, and me and Minkah, we were timing that up, so as soon as there was a flinch of that ball, we got off it," Haden said to reporters on a Zoom call Monday. "I felt like it was a pretty good get-off."
Haden's right, it was a good get-off by he and Fitzpatrick, almost too good.
"Once you get off like that, I think sometimes with two people coming that clean, referees just throw (a flag)," Haden said. "Once everybody gets off so good like that, sometimes the referee throws the flag. So that's unfortunate."
Unfortunate indeed as that play and the field goal that came right after changed the complexity of the game.
"It is what it is," Haden said. It's unfortunate, I wish that it wasn't called. But you just want to keep executing, and hopefully next time (it works). You can see how it looks if you get such a good jump on the ball, sometimes."
More from Haden's availability:
• Haden still believes the Steelers' defense is capable of being the best defense in the NFL and with that the Steelers will just need to weather the storm.
"We're coming in each week with a great game plan ... We have the talent, we have the playmaker, we can make it happen," Haden said.
• Complementary football is the name of the game at all levels and is something the Steelers haven't quite mastered yet this year with the offense often letting the defense out to dry. The lack of success the offense has been able to have can sometimes feed into the defense, though that's not something Haden believes in at this level.
"We are professionals," Haden exclaimed. You're going to put bad tape out there because your offense isn't scoring points?"