Kyle Van Noy blasts NFL admission as league considers replay changes

Months after the Baltimore Ravens’ controversial Week 14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL has publicly revisited one of the game’s defining moments, the overturned Isaiah Likely touchdown that helped swing the outcome.

Ravens react after NFL admits Missed calls - Is replay reform coming?

The acknowledgment came from one of the most powerful voices in the league office. When NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent spoke recently about replay decisions the league had internally reconsidered, he included the Ravens-Steelers game in the conversation as an example.

“There was two plays in particular,” Vincent said in a conversation with Mark Maske of The Washington Post. “There was the Likely play … Ravens-Steelers in the end zone. And then you had the one. There was a (New York) Jets play. But it was the Likely play that you go, that was interesting because of the third step and they were talking about the ball extended out. So it was: What constitutes that third act?”

In NFL catch rules, a receiver must complete the process of the catch, often defined by control plus a football move (the so-called third act). On Likely’s play, officials determined that when he extended the ball toward the goal line, he had not completed that final act before losing control.

Vincent didn’t outright declare the ruling incorrect, but he didn’t defend it either. By labeling it “interesting” and highlighting the ambiguity surrounding the interpretation of that third act, he effectively acknowledged what Ravens players and fans have argued since December. The play lived in a gray area where the original touchdown call could have reasonably stood.

For Baltimore veterans, that validation didn’t help them feel better. In fact, it just intensified the frustration. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy didn’t mince words when reacting to the league’s acknowledgment of multiple missed calls in that game.

“Have we ever seen the NFL come out months after a game has been played… and admit they didn’t get one huge crucial call in the biggest NFL rivalry game? But they got two crucial calls in the same game wrong? So the total was three horrible calls in one game… That’s insane,” he posted on X.

He pointed not only to the Likely reversal, but also to an interception ruling and a 15-yard penalty involving Travis Jones that the league later said was incorrectly assessed.

“We need some sort of action now because this cannot happen at the highest level,” Van Noy added.

Vincent’s comments come as the NFL considers expanding replay authority, including discussions about allowing replay officials greater ability to intervene when clear errors occur.

Historically, owners have resisted broad replay expansion, wary of overcorrecting and slowing the game. But high-profile controversies, particularly those involving catch interpretations and subjective judgment calls, continue to test that stance, and the Likely play is now part of that larger conversation.

It’s much too late for the Ravens now. The loss happened, they missed an opportunity for the postseason, and the Super Bowl has come and gone. The NFL’s admission of the ambiguity of the calls does nothing to change any of that. But perhaps there can be change for the future. If replay reform is coming, Baltimore’s Week 14 loss may become one of the examples cited in the room when owners debate how much authority replay officials should have over calls in real time.

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