The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars (20-10) at Acrisure Stadium in Week 8. Diontae Johnson dropped a significant gain on the first play of the matchup in the middle of the field, and the offense never really recovered. The Steelers would lose two of their most important players, not named TJ Watt, with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kenny Pickett being lost for the game due to injury in the first half.
Lucy Schaly/Post-Gazette
Steelers Chris Boswell has been nearly automatic in 2023
Unfortunately, for the NFL and, more importantly, the Steelers, that was not the story of the game. A series of increasingly bad calls against Pittsburgh was capped by a bizarre offsides call against Isaac Seumalo. The penalty nullified a Chris Boswell field goal that took three crucial points away just before halftime. Mike Pereira, the former Vice President of NFL officiating who is now an analyst for Fox, was so puzzled he took to social media to voice his opinion.
In Pittsburgh, offside on the offensive guard? Officials are told to call that if a lineman has his head in the neutral zone on the short yardage push plays, not on field goal attempts.
— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) October 29, 2023
Pereira was one of many who noticed the poor officiating. Brent Martineau, the Sports Director for Jacksonville CBS47/Fox 30, pointed out that the Steelers were not very happy with the officials after losing three points in adverse weather conditions.
Now the kick is no good... The Steelers are furious with the officiating. The Jags offense is furious with itself. It's 9-3 at halftime. Buckle up - this might be just one of those weird games.
— Brent Martineau (@BrentASJax) October 29, 2023
The field goal was a key controversial call, but it was not the only one. Dave Dameshek, host of the Minus Three Podcast and a 15-year veteran of covering the NFL, highlighted an earlier call that led to the first three points of the game for the Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence drew a phantom roughing the passer call. Dameshek was open about voicing his opinion.
Now y’see THIS isn’t a penalty.
— Dave Dameshek (@Dameshek) October 29, 2023
Why? Well, like everyone else - including Roger Goodell, Mike Pereira & your mother - I have no g-d idea https://t.co/dhZpqwCsTb pic.twitter.com/SY4tNv0oWe
The situation was exacerbated before the Boswell penalty when Pickett was knocked from the game after being driven to the ground. The officials, after calling a highly questionable roughing the passer call for Lawrence, swallowed their whistle. The NFL purports to want to protect quarterbacks from big hits. Unless, of course, that signal-caller is Pickett, who has been forced to leave games two seasons in a row after blatant illegal hits that officials did not flag.
In a world where looking at the QB wrong gets you flagged for roughing the passer, a LEGITIMATE driving him into the ground gets no flag... pic.twitter.com/c7X1l4aR1G
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 29, 2023
The NFL has a real issue when Pro Football Focus has become the voice of reason on officiating. The inconsistency of the two calls in a vacuum is curious. The fact that the same official made them is completely outrageous. In Week 7, Mike McDaniel took his case public against the NFL for its officiating miscues. It is doubtful that Mike Tomlin will follow suit, no matter how much he disagrees.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin keeps letting Matt Canada off the hook for their 2023 struggles despite what everyone else already knows
Steelers WR Diontae Johnson Absolutely Blasts NFL And Officiating
The Cleveland Browns were practically awarded their second consecutive game after an egregiously lousy pass interference call. The NFL apologized, but the Browns still got the win. The Steelers were victimized on Sunday, but they were not the first, and they won't be the last under the current system. The NFL still has the late Sunday games and Monday Night Football to make even bigger mistakes that could affect more games.
The league has the technology to get the officiating right, but they will not implement it. There has always been an element of fans complaining about officiating. It is part of the game. However, when a head coach takes to social media and lists individual bad calls, how much longer can this go on? It will be at least the rest of 2023 because the NFL will not implement rules mid-season.
Social media is already making what the NFL hopes are unfounded accusations of fixing games. Fans are increasingly demanding investigations into officials that are costing them money. A concern the NFL did not have to address when gambling on games was not strictly legal. The league had a level of protection because who exactly were the gamblers going to complain to, Joey the Bookie? The only question that remains at this point is if the NFL will be able to find a single scapegoat like the NBA did with Kevin Donaghy when some ambitious investigator starts digging.
Associated Press
Steelers owner Art Rooney II and Roger Goodell
Roger Goodell and the other owners in the NFL thought it would be a good idea to chase legalized gambling. Congratulations, an increasing portion of that fan base is growing angry. Missed calls that result in critical players getting injured, paired with calls that take points off the scoreboard, will not be tolerated by gamblers. The NFL bet the over on gambler tolerance for shenanigans. Somehow, they forgot they made it legal for Karen and Chad to do the betting. Good luck with that, Goodell.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Did you feel gambling would force the open questioning of the game's integrity this soon? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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