Late in the first quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday night Wild Card win over the Cincinnati Bengals, offensive line coach Mike Munchak was penalized for pushing safety Reggie Nelson out of bounds following a nice run by running back Jordan Todman. After seeing that play, Mike Greenberg of ESPN Radio had the hottest of hot takes on Twitter.
“Mike Munchak should be heavily fined. More than any player in this game, including Burfict,” tweeted Greenberg.
Really, Mike? If you look at the replay, Nelson ran into Munchak and the coach merely pulled him to the side. Nelson took offense to that and pushed back and the two exchanged words. In relation to the time frame, the flag was thrown very late and it appears as though a final push back by Munchak is what precipitated the flag being thrown.
While a flag on Munchak may have been appropriate, I doubt he will get fined. However, if he is, I doubt it should be more than the one that linebacker Vontaze Burfict receives. Besides, if he’s fined, Nelson should be as well.
Hey, I can understand Greenberg’s frustration being as his beloved New York Jets failed to take care of their business during the final week of the season. However, Munchak being flagged should be enough.
