When the 9-7 Pittsburgh Steelers face the 13-3 Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, it means absolutely nothing to the Ravens, who have wrapped up the AFC’s one-seed. But for the Steelers, it means everything — they need to beat whoever the Ravens put on the field, and they also need help. Pittsburgh makes the playoffs under the following scenarios:
- PIT win + BUF loss OR
- PIT win + JAX loss or tie OR
- PIT win + HOU-IND tie OR
- PIT tie + JAX loss + HOU-IND doesn’t end in tie OR
- JAX loss + DEN win + HOU-IND doesn’t end in tie
And now, the NFL has presented its own scenario in which the game will be officiated by referee Brad Allen and his crew, who should not be officiating any game, anywhere, at any level of football.
Referee for Steelers at Ravens (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) @ESPNNFL — Brad Allen
https://t.co/rfNfLSzutH #PITvsBAL pic.twitter.com/RouirNWWFr— Fᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ Zᴇʙʀᴀs🇺🇦 (@footballzebras) January 2, 2024
In case you’ve been sleeping since last weekend, Allen and his crew were responsible for the tackle-eligible mistake and several other horrible calls that turned things in the Dallas Cowboys’ favor against the Detroit Lions, taking Detroit out of any hope for the NFC’s one-seed, which the San Francisco 49ers now have. Allen and his crew were also responsible for the missed pass interference call on cornerback Carrington Valentine against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. Allen and his crew were also responsible for the one-sided farce in the Week 7 game between the Miami Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles.
And now, after all that, the most incompetent officiating crew in the NFL will “administrate” a major prime-time game with serious postseason implications. So much for accountability!
As you might expect, America was not at all happy about it.