Does anyone remember what happened back in November at Heinz Field when Troy Polamalu returned a ball for an initially called touchdown? Lots of chaos would be a good answer.  The play, which was totally irrelevant to the game since it was scored with no time on the clock, was reviewed by officials before the extra point was attempted.  In the end, the touchdown was overturned and we never heard the end of it from the gambling industry.  Many people asked why such an irrelevant play, with the Steelers already leading, would be reviewed. The NFL simply said it's policy and of course never even mentioned the gambling aspect.

Well, maybe I was the only one that noticed something in last night's Monday Night Football game at Carolina.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were losing 38-23 with just over a minute to go. Tampa Bay had a 4th down from their own 47-yard line. Garcia dropped back to pass and threw it pretty much into the arms of the falling Carolina Panthers Dante Wesley.  The ruling on the field was an incomplete pass. If you look at the replays, it was an extremely close play. It could have easily been looked at and possibly called an interception. Close enough to where replay should have been brought in.  Wait a moment though. It was fourth down for Tampa Bay. An interception and down by contact or an incomplete pass is pretty much the same thing. Carolina would have obtained the ball like they did, regardless. It had absolutely no impact on the game. Did Troy Polamalu's interception for a touchdown have an impact on the game? No. Was it reviewed? Yes. Amazingly, Polamalu's interception return also had an impact on the betting outcome!

So, the NFL can't possibly say this play wasn't reviewed last night because it was meaningless, right? I contacted Greg Aiello, spokesperson for the NFL. After quickly receiving a reply back from him, I was given an answer from Randall Liu, also an NFL spokesperson. "There was no replay given that clearly showed the ball was caught." Liu said. Is it just me or isn't that why the NFL goes to the actual replay? To indeed determine whether or not there is a clear angle. If it was always determined something was or wasn't clear before review, then why do we have long stoppages where the referee goes and looks into the monitor? Futhermore, I am told something that goes exactly against what happened in the Pittsburgh Steelers game with Polamalu. "This play had no direct competitive impact on the game since it was a fourth down play and Carolina would get the ball either way," Liu said in his email. "So it was not necessary to stop the game to review this."

Maybe it should be said since it had no gambling impact we decided not to stop the game.

Andy Slater is on an-air host for 640AM WFTL Fox Sports in South Florida. His website can be found at  theslatershow.com