NFL acknowledges game clock error in Steelers-Chargers game

For the second week in a row, the NFL is acknowledging an officiating error during a nationally televised game.

This time, the problem was twofold: 18 seconds were incorrectly run off the clock late in the fourth quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers' 24-20 victory at the San Diego Chargers — and not one of the game officials noticed the gaffe and corrected it.

In a statement emailed today, league spokesman Michael Signora said that "an error by the clock operator" after a touchback allowed the extra time to tick away, and "it is the responsibility of the side judge to supervise the timing of the game."

The statement added: "Had the side judge or any of the other six on-field officials noticed the timing error, they could have corrected it."

In last week's Monday night game, an official missed a late-game call in Seattle's 13-10 victory over Detroit, giving the Seahawks the ball even though one of their defenders deliberately knocked a fumbled ball out of the end zone, which should be a penalty.

The most recent mistake happened after San Diego kicked a field goal to take a 20-17 lead with 2 minutes, 56 seconds left Monday night. The ensuing kickoff went for a touchback, so the clock never should have started. Instead, it rolled down, and by the time Pittsburgh lined up for the first play of its crucial drive, only 2:38 remained.