New footage shows officials were wrong in Week 15’s Steelers-Eagles fight

New footage vindicates Steelers fans, proving officiating errors in Pittsburgh’s Week 15 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Oh, how the tables have turned. Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers were criticized as sore losers for blaming the awful officiating in Week 15’s contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles. However, new footage from one key play in the game supports the Black and Gold faithful’s claims.

Early in the first quarter, Steelers WR Calvin Austin and TE Darnell Washington were wrongfully the only players penalized for a fight that broke out with Eagles CBs Quinyon Mitchell and Darius Slay Jr.

HC Mike Tomlin was visibly upset on the sideline following the penalty on his players alone. When asked postgame why the officiating crew made the call, referee Alan Eck stated it was due to a lack of evidence.

However, newly released footage clearly shows that Slay and Mitchell both took shots at Washington and Austin.  This begs the question, how was officiating upstairs unable to catch the penalty in replay assist?

While this is certainly not the first time officials have given the Pittsburgh Steelers the short end of the stick, fans of the Steel City certainly hope it will be the last in 2024.

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Second-year referee Alan Eck assigned to Week 1 Saints-Panthers game

Second-year referee Alan Eck has been assigned to Week 1’s Saints-Panthers game. New Orleans went 1-1 with him on the field last season:

The New Orleans Saints will see referee Alan Eck for a third time on Sunday when they kick off their 2024 regular season with the Carolina Panthers; Football Zebras reports that the second-year referee and his crew have been assigned to Week 1’s game at the Caesars Superdome. Eck entered the league’s ranks as a side judge in 2016 before working as an umpire from 2017 to 2022. He was promoted to referee in 2023.

Eck refereed two games for the Saints last season: a road loss to the Houston Texans and a home win over the Carolina Panthers. The black and gold were fouled seven times for 83 yards in that first matchup (with two other fouls called and declined) but drew just three penalties for 30 yards in the follow-up. And the Panthers, this week’s opponent, were fouled four times for a loss of 27 yards in last year’s game at the Caesars Superdome.

The Saints’ costliest errors both came in the Texans game, with Paulson Adebo drawing a 29-yard pass interference foul on third down and Max Garcia getting flagged for a false start on fourth down. Garcia wasn’t re-signed this offseason, and it’s worth noting Adebo had just two more DPI penalties after that one last season.

How did Eck’s crew stack up around the league? They finished with the fourth-fewest total penalties per game (10.4), ranking seventh in average penalty yards per game (87.7). If you include dismissed fouls they had the fewest total flags thrown all year (179 in 15 games). They emphasized false starts (26 for 128 yards) and offensive holding fouls (24 for 227 yards), as well as unnecessary roughness (14 for 194 yards). For the most part they let guys get away with a lot of contact in coverage, with just a dozen DPI fouls, third-fewest. Hopefully Eck and his crew call another clean game on Sunday.

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Referee Alan Eck assigned to his second Saints game this season

Referee Alan Eck assigned to his second Saints game this season

The New Orleans Saints will play their second game with referee Alan Eck on the field this season in Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers; they last saw him in Week 6, during their loss to the Houston Texans. Eck was promoted to referee this summer after previously working as an NFL umpire and side judge for seven years.

Eck’s crew averages fewer penalties per game (11.4) than most squads around the league, but he nearly met that total back in Week 6. New Orleans was fouled 7 times for 83 yards against just 3 penalties for 29 yards on the Texans.

Why such an imbalance? Pass interference penalties on Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore cost the Saints 45 yards, and the offensive line combined for another 25 penalty yards (Erik McCoy and Trevor Penning were fouled for holding, Max Garcia had a false start). Derek Carr was flagged for intentional grounding, too.

Hopefully the Saints can cut down on those penalties; they’ve drawn exactly 6 fouls for 50 penalty yards in each of their last two games coming out of the Week 13 bye. Negative yardage and lost opportunities have held them back all season and time is running out to make up for those mistakes.

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First-year referee Alan Eck’s crew assigned to Week 6 Saints-Texans game

Alan Eck will referee his first Saints game in Week 6. He was promoted this summer after seven years working NFL games as an umpire and side judge:

This could be interesting: Alan Eck will referee his first New Orleans Saints game in Week 6, having been assigned to their matchup with the Houston Texans on Sunday. Eck was promoted this summer after seven years working NFL games as an umpire and side judge, replacing the retired Jerome Boger. Before he made the jump to the NFL, Eck was a referee for the Big 12 conference.

Home teams are 5-1 in games Eck has officiated this season, so the Saints will need to be careful. Eck’s crew has thrown 12.2 penalty flags per game so far (8th-most out of the 17 officiating crews) while averaging one more foul on visiting teams (6.6) than hosts (5.6) each week. The home team averages 41 penalty yards per game while the visitors have averaged 65 with Eck’s crew on the field.

So which penalties do the Saints need to be most mindful of? Offensive holding (12 fouls) and false starts (10) have been an area of emphasis from Eck’s crew, but so have unnecessary roughness infractions (6). It’s important the Saints play clean football and don’t hurt themselves. They’ve drawn penalty flags for more offensive holding (10) and false start penalties (8) than anything else, so that could be a concern on Sunday. Houston also needs to watch out for that with 8 false starts and 5 offensive holding fouls on their ledger.

Right now the Saints are tied for the third-most penalties (36 for 323 yards) but their opponents haven’t really taken advantage of it. New Orleans has benefited from the second-most fouls by opposing teams (39 for 291 yards).

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