Tomlin knows the rules. He knows that interfering there will grant the ravens a TD automatically. The refs failed to do that, to the surprise of everyone. Unless Tomlin could have predicted the refs failing to act correctly, there was no benefit in him taking that action deliberately. I’m not saying there’s zero chance that Tomlin would cheat, but I do think there is zero chance that he cheats when he is overwhelmingly likely to be caught, such as when on national tv.
IMO taping practices was Belickick’s idea. Benson probably knew about the bounties.
Possible explanation: He knows that if the refs catch what was in fact a rather subtle motion the Ravens will end up with the same result he believes they would have had anyway. Could be worth a try.
Well, that’s the best you’ll ever get from Marley. He doesn’t apologize, and he’s never wrong. I’m surprised he’s not a woman, because I could swear i’ve dated his female twin. 
Ok, Marley. I think there are two things we can safely assume here:
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we will never agree on this, mainly because you and I see this thing differently, and neither one is going to change the other’s mind, and
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you will get the last word in on this particular point, because you always get the last word. I assume because you are a Mod, you have a bit more time than the average poster, so you are out here more. That’s fine. But since I am replying to you while I visit the bathroom in the wee (haw! :D) hours of the A.M., I can safely say this will be my last reply to you on this subject. Not because I don’t like you or don’t find this banter enjoyable… I’ve just lost my interest in trying to explain this to you.
So pay attention.
I will not go blow by blow through each statement of your last post, because it is a waste of time, and all it does is prolong this. So I will try to explain my point one last time, show you the inconsistencies in your response, and you can ignore all of it, or write me a reply asking me yet again if I understand the concept of probability.
So, let’s answer that one first. Yes, I do understand the concept of probability. In fact, I would venture a guess that I understand it the same (if not better) than you. I have a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, and my first professional job out of college was as a mathematician. What are your qualifications?
You don’t strike me as an idiot. However, you DO strike me as stubborn, someone who will never back down from a position. That can be admirable, but it’s also foolish when you are either flat out wrong, or (as may be the case here), you have failed to either 1) explain your position clear enough for me to understand what you are trying to say, and/or 2) you refuse to read what I’ve written with an open mind. If you are incapable of even entertaining the idea that you may be wrong, the result is ordained. I cannot impact the result of this discussion (just like our football game!) So to continue this beyond my constipated bowel movement seems silly to me.
But, here’s the thing. In your last line, you say
Now read that again, since it is your own.
You state emphatically (with italics, no less!) that “the outcome hadn’t been determined at the time!” So, how is that inconsistent with my claim that it didn’t affect the outcome of the game? You admit yourself that the outcome hadn’t been determined yet… BINGO! So, if that’s the case… The outcome wasn’t determined before or after the Jones kickoff return, then my claim that it didn’t affect the outcome of the game is correct. How could we possibly know what the impact of that play would be if we have no idea of the outcome of the game at all? Aren’t you getting this?
You are taking a result of an event, in this case a football game, and you are trying to pick one play from that game… And not a hail mary or FG at the very end, in which the result of the play most definitely impacts the outcome of the game, but a play midway through the third quarter, and stating that you know for certain that the play impacted the outcome of the game. How so? As you point out yourself, the outcome hadn’t been determined yet. You can’t back up the game from the end to the one play where you think the outcome was determined, unless you know POSITIVELY that the play in question impacted the outcome. And what does “impact the outcome of the game” mean? To me, it means the result of the game was impacted or changed from a win to a loss or tie, since those are the only three possible outcomes to a football game.
Even if you want to go your route and use odds… If the expected outcome is a win at 9 pts and the expected outcome is a win at 13 pts, then regardless of what you say, there is no change (or impact) to the outcome of the game if the final outcome is a win.
TADA! QED!
He also “knows” that standing on the white boundary will cost him 15 yards, yet he did that anyway. Or did he mistakenly meander a few yards while ‘mesmerized’?
Anyway, it looks like they will lose a pick, it just seems to be waiting on how important those 4 points were and what compensatory picks they would normally be granted.
After consulting the NFL rulebook, and deliberating the matter further, in my carefully reasoned judgement, the only fair result is for the Steelers to lose their draft picks for the next 12 years.
I can’t remember the tiebreaker rules ever having to go past strength-of-schedule. When was the last time it happened that points scored/points allowed mattered for tiebreak purposes?
I hear they were going to have the Steelers lose their draft picks every time the Browns had a losing record, but eighty years of no draft picks was considered too cruel. 
And Tampa Bay won a Super Bowl. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it couldn’t.
CBS is reporting that (pretty much as expected) Steelers will lose a late-round draft pick.
Is your region having issues with that? Seems to me that heavy enforcement has helped in Oklahoma except at the tightest of sidelines.
I give your answer zero stars.
::yawn::
My point was: Any Given Sunday. Anything can happen in football. Just look at Alabama vs Auburn. Or the Houston Oilers vs Buffalo Bills. Past events (or non events) are not a fool proof predictor of the future.
Likely? Probably not. Possible? Hell yeah!
Are game ties likely in the NFL? No. Do they happen? Yes. So, to shrug off the possibility of an end of season tie breaker going to several levels is odd.
My point being, this is completely obvious. Of course it can happen. If you read my post as asking, “can I know with complete certainty that this tiebreaker won’t be used,” then you read it wrong.
Your “zero stars” post implies otherwise, imho.
Still, ymmv, as always. I’m 
with it.
Back on topic for this thread: Bengals, Browns, Jets winning so far. Pitt vs Miami is a lot closer than I expected. Miami may yet pull it out. Rat birds are sucking it. All the discussion about Tomlin’s actions probably won’t matter at the end of this season. But, it still affects the Steelers even after this season.
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I think Shula knocked Brown out of bounds.
How do you figure that?
Karma did it. A foot for a foot.
The penalty aspect continues to be poorly defined. Or poorly called.
I’m not sure I understand this.
If what i read is accurate, the Miami coach got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist. And only a couple of weeks after all the fuss over Tomlin being on the field? Shouldn’t the Miami coach get slammed with a significant fine? And where is the National outrage? Where are the thousands of replays showing it over and over? Without this post, I wouldn’t have known about this at all.
I guess the media blew the Tomlin thing so out of proportion that no one wants to discuss this one.
But let’s see… The coach was on the field, a ref ran into him, and no flag was thrown.
Coach fined $10k, no talk of draft picks, and that’s that.
If the Steelers have anything done with their draft picks over the Tomlin incident, and nothing is done here, I really need to understand why.