The Sports Xchange

The NFL suspended the official involved in the clock mistake during Monday night’s San Diego Chargers-Pittsburgh Steelers game in San Diego.

Side judge Rob Vernatchi was suspended for one week with pay, according to multiple reports Wednesday.

ProFootballTalk.com reported that Vernatchi is expected to file a grievance.

After a San Diego field goal with 2:56 left in the game, the Chargers kicked off to the Steelers, who kneeled in the end zone for a touchback. The clock should not have moved, but 18 seconds ran off and the Steelers ended up winning 24-20.

The NFL said in a statement on Tuesday that a mistake was made.

“Because of an error by the clock operator, the game clock was incorrectly started before the Steelers’ first play from scrimmage following the touchback. That first down snap came with 2:38 left to play instead of 2:56, a difference of 18 seconds. The official game time is kept on the stadium scoreboard, but it is the responsibility of the side judge to supervise the timing of the game. Had the side judge or any of the other six on-field officials noticed the timing error, they could have corrected it.”