Too much is at stake for the NFL to have stupid officiating errors like it did last night

On Monday night, in the pivotal fourth quarter of a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers, 18 seconds of the game were lost.

None of the officials on the field noticed it, and 18 seconds of the game were gone.

The Steelers ended up driving down the field and winning as time expired on a big play from Le’Veon Bell, so a lot of people noted that the 18 seconds didn’t affect the outcome of the game.

But here’s the thing: We have no idea what those 18 seconds would have done to the game.

Perhaps, because there was less time before the 2-minute warning, the Steelers called different plays than they might have otherwise called, or the Chargers played a different defense.

To argue that the Steelers were nearly cheated out of the game is silly: Both teams were cheated in this instance, by incompetence from the NFL’s officiating crew.

Eighteen seconds running off the clock isn’t part of the game anymore, because this isn’t just a game anymore.