The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered an unfortunate loss in Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 20-10. The Steelers offense underperformed and got off to a slow start, and the play-calling by Matt Canada was noticeably bad. However, there were moments in the game where Pittsburgh fell victim to awful officiating that ended costing them points and, in turn, changed the flow of the game. Star wide receiver, Diontae Johnson spoke out against the officiating after the game.
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Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson knows that for the offense to be successful he needs to have an outstanding 2023 season
Steelers' Johnson Blasts Officiating
The Steelers fell victim to the officials horrible officiating multiple times during the loss. Arguably the worst call made all day was on the Steelers last-second field goal at the end of the first half. Chris Boswell knocked through a 55-yarder to end the first half and make the score 9-6 in favor of the Jaguars. But, a flag was thrown on the play, pushing the Steelers back five yards and Boswell missed the kick from the new distance. Johnson spoke about the call after the game in the locker room.
"I ain't like the refs today. They must've got paid good today or something. That field goal, that hurt us. Going into the half we needed that."
The penalty thrown on the play was "offensive offsides" which is a call many have never seen before. The refs claimed that Steelers guard, Isaac Seumalo lined up in the neutral zone on the play claiming he was offsides. Seumalo said he lined up the same way he has on every field goal in his career. Seumalo is very experienced as he entered the league in 2016 and has been lining up on field goal units ever since. It is very unlikely he lined up in the neutral zone on such a routine play.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo was an important upgrade by the team's front office to help stabilize the offensive line.
Johnson continued to call out the officials in his post game interview, as he seemed to try to remain calm. He acknowledged that the team could have made more plays for themselves, but it's hard to do when the officials keep making calls that hold them back. This is something Najee Harris also spoke about following the Steelers win in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams. Despite acknowledging the team didn't play particularly well, he also announced that the referees cost the Steelers the game today.
"They was calling some stupid stuff. They should get fined for making terrible calls. Cause they cost us the game. I don't care what nobody say, they cost us the game."
The officials wiping the Steelers three points off the board at the end of the first half changed the game in favor of Jacksonville. It changed the entire way the Steelers were forced to play the second half. Instead of a three-point deficit, they faced a six point deficit. It was 17-3 and then the Steelers scored to make it 17-10 and it was still a touchdown game, when in reality they should of only been down four points had the bad call never occurred.
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Steelers wide receiver, Diontae Johnson (#18) makes a catch at 2022 training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Another call that was made that was questionable was a roughing the passer call on the Steelers when they hit Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. It was questionable and added 15 yards onto the play for Jacksonville. Later in the half, Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett was hit after he threw the ball in a much more violent way and was injured on the play and never returned to the game. The call on the hit on Lawrence should have never been made in the first place, but he got the call Pickett should have as well. Johnson spoke on the officials lack of consistency in the game.
"Man they wanted them to win. Man everything they were calling was in [Jacksonville's] favor. They were getting every little call. But it is what it is."
The poor officiating against the Steelers in Week 8 will be a major talking point throughout the week as the Steelers have a quick turnaround to play the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football. Hopefully the offense and the entire team is able to play better in Week 9, and the officials put on a better performance than they did on Sunday.
What do you think of Johnson's comments regarding the officiating? Let us know in the comments below!
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