PFWA Pool Reporter Ben Baby Interview with Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Question: What was the interpretation on the interception by DJ Turner in the first half that enabled that ruling to be called on the field?
Mark Butterworth: “Yes, the ruling on the field was that we had an interception. Since that is a reviewable play due to it being a turnover, we did look at the play in the AMGC [Art McNally GameDay Central, the NFL officiating room in New York].
We did have initial control by the receiver and before he completes the process of the catch, the defender gains control of the ball, and the defender had his knee down in bounds and then completes the process of the catch as he goes out of bounds. So, since the receiver did not complete the process of the catch, he was not down by contact, and the defender gained control of the ball. The defender actually completed the process of the catch with the knee down in bounds before he went out of bounds.”
Question: Is that normal protocol that replay in New York will help out with the expedited reviews? That was a question we had given how often that was cited tonight.
Butterworth: “Yes, we did wait for the crew on the field – the seven officials – to determine that the ruling on the field was an interception. Once they ruled it an interception, we did confirm it in the AMGC.”
Question: And the other question, it was kind of replay review centric as well. The ball was moved when Zac Taylor challenged a spot on the field. Had he challenged that the spot was incorrect and not that a first down was gained, would the Bengals have kept their challenge since the ball was re-spotted?
Butterworth: “When a team challenges or the booth stops the game in this situation, the only thing that is reviewable is the line to gain. That’s the reviewable aspect. So, since they did challenge the line to gain, even though they did not win the challenge, we purposely re-spotted the ball to the down-by-contact spot. Since it wasn’t a reviewable aspect to move the ball from the nine to the eight-and-a-half, Cincinnati did lose the challenge and was charged a timeout.”
