Rule 14 Section 1 Article 3 Exception 1

[StrictlyBiz]

(01-22-2016, 05:13 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: The popular video out there (cant link it right now--on my ipad) shows one ref in the middle of the players for 5 full seconds before pacman bumps the third ref that steps in. That means the first ref stepped in before those five seconds and started to try and separate the group. All of this happened after Brown was walking off the field and Porter stayed behind.

He could have flagged Porter for unsportsmanlike conduct at least five seconds before Pacman stepped in, for hanging back and engaging the players. Granted, that would have been a little sketchy because separating the group first is the logical thing to do. Pacman made it moot by flying in and doing what he did. Still, a flag there would have been justified due to the atmosphere of that and the previous game.

And he could have flagged Gillberry for bumping Porter before that. 

At that point Im sure the refs aren't looking to throw flags and their thinking is to just get everyone separated, and then Jones runs into the official. 

All of these fines that are deemed to be admissions of missed penalties (rightly so) are going back after the fact and looking at everything that happened in a matter of seconds on the field and then sorting it out. I think from the NFL's perspective though they are to curtail any further shennanigans. 

Anyways, the point of this thread is that the Bengals weren't robbed because the Jones/Porter penalties should have washed out if they didn't miss a penalty on Porter. Admittedly it can get murky if he was indeed fined for being on the field and then your earlier scenario comes into play. But the NFL never stated specifically what his fine is for and honestly it isn't obvious as it could have just as easily been for his verbal jousting with Burfict. 

If the NFL comes out (or did and I missed it) and says he was fined for being out there, then I'll admit to the murkiness of the situation. 

The most "official" statement that I could find from the NFL is this video on NFL.com that says that he was fined for "instagating" which really could be either of the two. 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000623166/article/adam-jones-fined-29k-steelers-porter-fined-10k