Pittsburg/Miami Fumble

[shave-tail]

After watching the clip of this play several times, it appears to me that the correct call should have been an inadvertant whistle which in the end would still award the ball to Pittsburg. Watching the clip you can see the linesman coming in indicating a touchdown and I'm sure blowing his whistle, when the reverse view shows the ball is out and has been recovered yet.

Saying we don't know who recovered the ball only makes me think that they decided to say that instead of IW, because why would the officials all stop doing their job unless they also heard the whistle and saw the touchdown signal?

Also, I believe the NFL has a rule about fumbling forward especially into the end zone (the Snake from Oakland rule). I'm not sure if this rule applies here because I don't know all the details that goes alone with this rule...does anyone know the rule and if it would have applied to this play?

BTW, I don't have a dog in the race...did not care who won but the rules interpretation of this play interests me.