OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It's inevitable. NFL players, coaches and fans face it every year: the definition of a catch, and its application in real time.
WATCH: Harbaugh spoke with league office about reversed Likely touchdown
That was tested in the Baltimore Ravens' loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, including what may have been the game's biggest play: the Isaiah Likely catch in the end zone late in the 4th quarter, called a touchdown on the field, but reversed and ruled incomplete
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters he spoke with the league office about multiple calls, including the Likely play. A touchdown would have given the Ravens the lead without much time left in the game.
"[The league offices] were gracious enough to spend a lot of time on the phone with myself and Eric [DeCosta] and Tony Michalek, and we appreciate that. It didn't clear anything up, it didn't make it easier to understand either one of the two calls, they're very hard to understand, how they get overturned. But they did, and that's where it stands," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh also confirmed with the league that a special teams penalty on nose tackle Travis Jones, which gave the Steelers a first down on what would have been a field goal, should not have been called.
The Likely play aside, Harbaugh says that final drive just wasn't up to snuff overall.
"It wasn't good enough, just leave it that, suffice to say we have to be better in those situations. We weren't in the right spot all the time, we had to flip a formation the one time the clock was running on us. We had to change the side we were lined on," Harbaugh said.
READ MORE: New week, same cleats, Ravens get beat by the Steelers 27-22
Despite criticism, Harbaugh praised his offensive line, saying they played well all-in-all, but noted they were 'probably' too inconsistent in the pass game.
"Every player has plays they want back. I can think of one where Daniel [Faalele] was hard setting, like a hard play action, when it was more of a drop back pass type protection, got overextended and got beat like that. That really shouldn't happen, he should be setting a different way there, he knows that, so that was a mistake," Harbaugh said.
On the injury front: Harbaugh says RB Keaton Mitchell is day-to-day.
Harbaugh was also asked about a near walk-in Jaylen Warren touchdown catch.
“Two missed assignments. Two guys not covering the correct guy, it was pretty straightforward. Doesn’t happen very often, we haven’t had many of those all year, maybe two total all year which I’m kind of proud of," he said.
The Ravens travel to Cincinnati for a 1pm game on Sunday, December 14, but the schedule doesn't get much easier from there. They host the Patriots at home, the Packers at Lambeau Field, and the Steelers in Pittsburgh to close out the season.
