Steelers will be expecting an apology letter from the NFL following blatant omission by official
No one with an objective bone in their body will tell you that the Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday was because of officiating. An utter disappointment on offense, they were the smallest portion of the pie in terms of defeat for Pittsburgh. But following comments from the officials after the game, […]
No one with an objective bone in their body will tell you that the Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday was because of officiating.
An utter disappointment on offense, they were the smallest portion of the pie in terms of defeat for Pittsburgh.
But following comments from the officials after the game, a poor call looks a lot worse:
Official Misses Eagles Punches
"No punches were observed on the field. Since we had flags down, it gave New York an opportunity to review the play as well. There was no video evidence of punches observed by the Philadelphia Eagles," said NFL referee Alan Eck.
As you can see in the video, Eagles CB Darius Skay clearly punches the helmet of Steelers TE Darnell Washington, though only he and WR Calvin Austin were the ones called for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties following the scuffle.
"If I see plenty of Eagles come up and surround him, yeah I’m gonna come in and help my dog. But I guess being the biggest guy out there, I’m going to get a flag thrown on me," 5'8 WR Calvin Austin joked with the media after the game
"Not a sufficient one," said HC Mike Tomlin when asked about the explanation he received from the officials regarding the one-sided penalties. "I'll let them explain that sequence, why should I explain it?"
The truth is, that series of penalties is neither here nor there considering the offense only allocated 128 yards passing and one TD despite turning the Eagles over multiple times.
Self inflicted wounds that included these personal fouls, a lack of discipline via holding and illegal formations, and fumbles were the real culprits behind one of the worst offensive outputs of the season.
"We turned the ball over on the short field and got no points, and there were several possession downs on defense where we had opportunities to tackle ball carriers in the flat, and we missed those tackles, and that produced extended drives, and thus points," said Tomlin after the game. "And so that's life in our business. It's not anything mystical. It's very fundamental. We got to play discipline, we got to secure the ball, we got to tackle, and we didn't do some of those fundamental things well enough tonight to secure victory. And so although it sucks, man, we learn and we proceed."
Steelers’ biggest issue finally rears its head in disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles
It was only a matter of time.
