NFL Admits Oilers Got Extra Timeout

The NFL told the Pittsburgh Steelers Wednesday that referee Ben Dreith’s crew mistakenly awarded Houston an extra timeout in the first half of the Oilers’ 23-16 victory Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Dreith did not record the third and supposedly last timeout called by the Oilers after the Steelers’ Bubby Brister completed a four-yard pass to Merril Hoge on a third-down play with 1:14 remaining in the half and Pittsburgh leading, 10-7.

Hoge did not go out of bounds, and the clock would have continued running if Houston had not called time out.

After the Steelers punted on fourth down, Houston, helped by being allowed to call another timeout, went on to score with 20 seconds left in the half to take a 14-10 lead.

After the game, Dreith said he thought that official timer Lou Rossi had stopped the clock on his own, not at the request of the Oilers, but the league admitted the timeout error after officials supervisor Art McNally interviewed crew members and studied the videotape.

Steeler Coach Chuck Noll said he planned to file a report on the officiating with the leagueoffice.