Steelers Mike Tomlin Flummoxed By Mind-Blowing Penalty That Grounded Offensive Progress Before The Half

The Pittsburgh Steelers were dominated by the Jacksonville Jaguars during their Week 8 matchup. The Jaguars, who had won four straight heading into this game, were favored to win. Pittsburgh had given fans hope with some recent fourth-quarter comebacks. However, it was not meant to be. The Steelers were not able to overcome both their mediocre playing and the baffling officiating during the contest. This time, it wasn't just fans complaining about the refs, but players too, even Head Coach, Mike Tomlin said he was shocked by the questionable call before halftime. 

Pittsburgh was down 9-3 before their last possession of the first half and got the ball back with just under a minute left in the second quarter. Quarterback, Kenny Pickett was doing everything he could to keep his team in the game after a 36-yard kick-off return from Godwin Igwebuike. Pickett got off a successful pass to wide receiver, Diontae Johnson, who picked up 12 yards and managed to run for another nine yards himself. 

Then, on the next play, Pickett took a shot from defensive lineman, Adam Gotsis, that appeared to be roughing the passer based on an earlier call on a hit on Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence. There was no call made and Pickett was clearly significantly injured. He left the field and was ruled out for the rest of the game with an apparent rib injury. 

From there, things just got worse. Mitch Trubisky came out to take over for Pickett and wasn't able to pick up a first down. This led to a 55-yard field goal attempt by Chris Boswell. Boswell's kick was good, but a flag was thrown on left guard Isaac Seumalo for offsides. This backed the Steelers up five yards and made the field goal 61 yards, which Boswell missed. 

Fans and many analysts took to social media to complain that the call was garbage. They weren't the only ones. Tomlin, who is always a man of few words, had even less than normal to say at his post-game press conference. When asked about the explanation from the officials regarding the offside penalty, he admitted he was baffled by it.       

"I didn't get a lot of dialogue. You know I haven't seen that called in 17 years of standing on the sidelines - offsides, aligned offsides, on a guard, on a field goal protection. It didn't matter what they said, I'd never seen that," said a confused Tomlin.

This wasn't the only penalty that hurt the Steelers in the game. In addition to the clear no-call on roughing the passer and the offsides, they were hit with the previously mentioned roughing the passer themselves on Keanu Neal for what appeared to be a clear tackle on Lawrence. On top of that, the officials seemed to incorrectly run 10 seconds off the clock when Pickett supposedly fumbled the ball out of bounds. The initial spot of the ball on that "fumble" was off by a full two yards until it was corrected on a replay. 

The Steelers Have Struggled With Penalties Recently

This isn't the Steelers first game in 2023 with a multitude of penalties. During the Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams, several Steelers were penalized for infractions that led to fines by the NFL. Receivers Johnson and George Pickens were both fined for taunting. Pickens was also tagged for a blindside block during the first quarter.  

In addition, running back, Jaylen Warren and safety, Damontae Kazee both received fines for infractions that were not flagged by officials during the game. Warren's was for lowering his head when he hit Michael Hoecht. This is the second time in 2023 he has been fined for this same type of hit. 

While any player or coach worth their salt will admit they shouldn't be in a position to have a penalty make that much of a difference that the game changes directly because of it, that does not make it any less frustrating. The Steelers have been inconsistent all season and were finally working on building some offensive rhythm and the penalties wiped that out. 

The officiating crew, led by Alan Eck, can be disciplined by the NFL if it is shown that they blew the call; that is little consolation to the losing team. The Steelers are not new to terrible calls or inept officiating crews, ask almost any fan about Jesse James, or the time Jerome Bettis called tails and the referees heard heads. This kind of mistake definitely impacts games and often even the season and despite all of the technology at their disposal, it feels like officiating is getting worse, not better. 

What is the worst call you have ever seen? What did you think about the off-sides penalty? How about the disparity between the roughing the passer calls? What do you think should happen when referees clearly blow a call? Do you think these have a  substantial impact on the game? Other than the penalties how did you feel about the game? Any bright spots? Click to comment below.

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