Forget for a moment that gambling even exists. Take it out of the equation and focus on the reality of what transpired at the end of the Chargers-Steelers game, because it was a serious black eye for the National Football League.

By now, most of us know what happened, but I’ll set the scene again for those who have missed out on all the hoopla.

Down 11-10 with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Chargers took possession at the 21-yard line. There, quarterback Philip Rivers threw a forward pass to LaDainian Tomlinson, who then flipped the ball backwards to teammate Chris Chambers, who then tossed the ball backwards to another teammate, but Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu intervened, knocked the ball out of the air and recovered it on the 11-yard line. From there, Polamalu returned the ball into the end zone, which referees signaled a touchdown. Pending review and an extra point, the Steelers should have won 18-10.

But that’s not what happened. Officials did review the play and determined that it was in fact a touchdown. However, after reconvening, they determined that one of the Chargers’ lateral passes (the one Tomlinson threw) was an illegal forward pass and therefore the touchdown didn’t count.

No harm no foul, right? The Steelers would have won the game regardless and everyone involved can rejoice at the fact that no game in the history of the NFL has ever ended with an 11-10 score.

But the call wasn’t right. Even if LT’s pass was deemed illegal, the ball never touched the ground and therefore the play continues. The result of the play was an illegal forward pass, which the Steelers would have declined, and the touchdown should have counted. Head official Scott Green even admitted after the game that he and his crew “misinterpreted� the rule and got it wrong.