Tag: Penalties

Steelers linebacker responds to ‘dirty’ accusation from Commanders TE John Bates

Steelers LB Patrick Queen responds to Commanders TE John Bates.

If you blinked, you probably would’ve missed it. During Sunday’s back-and-forth battle between the Commanders and Steelers, Washington tight end John Bates and Pittsburgh linebacker John Bates were called for offsetting penalties after a play. The TV copy didn’t show exactly what happened, but Bates spoke about it later.

“Like I said, I was just playing through the whistle, it’s just the way I play,”Bates said of his confrontation with Queen. “I mean, if you go back and watch the film, in my opinion, it was him probably trying to do something dirty to me. Things happened, and it is what it is.”

Thanks to Sam Fortier of The Washington Post, we have a full picture of the incident Bates refers to from Sunday’s game, and he had every reason to be angry.

It’s no wonder Bates was angry. Queen’s shot was dirty, and he could’ve broken Bates’ arm on an unnecessary play.

Bates is popular with coaches and teammates in Washington’s locker room because he does the dirty work and is an unselfish player.

Speaking of dirty, Queen, like so many athletes do in this day and age, apparently vanity searched his name on X and responded.

No, Pat, he was doing his job and got the best of you, so you took him down and tried to injure him. There’s quite a difference.

Of course, Steelers’ fans defended Queen — whom they hated for years prior to March — on social media, blaming Bates.

By the picture’s appearance in this story, Bates won this battle. Unfortunately for the Commanders, the Steelers squeaked by with a 28-27 victory.

 

Does Mike Tomlin need to bench RT Broderick Jones again?

Broderick Jones’ penalty woes continued in Week 8, taking an opening-drive TD off the board. Does HC Mike Tomlin need to intervene again?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. While the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive unit appears much more dynamic under Russell Wilson’s leadership, issues on the offensive line continue to hold the offense back.

Specifically, several backup offensive linemen are stepping up in a big way for the Pittsburgh Steelers, yet 2023 first-round draft pick RT Broderick Jones is struggling, arguably making him the weakest link on offense. In 2024, Jones has had issues in all aspects of blocking, with penalties being his greatest weakness. 

On a key play during the Steelers’ Week 8 opening drive, Wilson rolled out to his right and connected with WR George Pickens for a touchdown, only to have it nullified by a face mask penalty from Jones. The penalty yardage proved too much to overcome, forcing the offense to settle for a field goal. 

Jones was benched earlier in the year by HC Mike Tomlin for similar issues, and the team may need to consider it again to prevent the offense’s momentum from stalling.

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Steelers WR George Pickens blames refs for his struggles

George Pickens says the officials are the problem, not him.

This season has not gone according to plan for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens. The Steelers traded away Diontae Johnson in hopes that Pickens would take up the role at the team’s No. 1 receiver and finally tap into all that potential.

Instead, Pickens has been inconsistent, problematic and put on a snap management plan that doesn’t have him on the field in key moments. But don’t blame him. He was asked about his handling of the ugly moments this season and if he thought he could do better.

Instead of taking any responsibility for his actions, he chose to blame the officials for making the calls.

“I wouldn’t really say that,” Pickens said. “It’s all on the refs. That should show you where the refs are this season”

Spoiler alert: It’s probably not all on the refs. Pickens performance and moreso his attitude have been less than stellar this season and just deflecting on the officials isn’t going to make anything better.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin shares message to team on frustrating penalties

The Steelers were on the wrong end of multiple questionable calls or non-calls on Sunday.

It is hard enough to win in the NFL when everything is equal. Teams are just so good that any mistakes can create upsets. But it’s worse when the officiating seems so skewed that you have to wonder if there is a reason all the poor calls are funneling toward one team.

This was the position the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in last week against the Indianapolis Colts.

Head coach Mike Tomlin had this to say about what his message is to his players when frustrated about how games are being officiated:

You’re going to get wrong from time to time, just like the opponent’s going to make a play from time to time. It’s how we respond to it. We still had a lot of opportunity to win that game after that call in particular, I didn’t like that call. I talked to New York yesterday. They didn’t like that call as well, but it doesn’t help me on a Monday, so on Sundays, we better be mentally tough, and we better move on to the next snap and just understand, at times, that’s a component of the game. The officials aren’t perfect; none of us are. We make mistakes in-game that we have to overcome, and if they make a mistake in-game, we better be prepared to overcome that as well. That’s what you learn as an individual and a collective when such instances occur.

Poor officiating has hamstrung the league for a very long time. We’ve never really felt like there was any sort of grand conspiracy but it does appear that some crews struggle more than others when it comes to certain calls.

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Referees are making their presence felt early in Week 4 game versus Colts

The officials of the Steelers versus Colts are making their presence felt early, throwing several Flags that impacted the game.

The officiating and their love of throwing flags has been a topic of conversation for Pittsburgh in the past few weeks.  There has been terrible calls that took major plays away from the Steelers, officials apologizing for flags, the benching of Broderick Jones over penalties, and now in Week 4, the refs are making their presence felt early.

After the Colts stormed down the field with an opening drive that resulted in a touchdown, the referees changed the course of Pittsburgh’s opening drive not once, but twice.

Justin Fields was driven to the ground on a Steelers third down play, which would have resulted in a sack and subsequent punt.

https://twitter.com/NFLscheme/status/1840440194949923250

The referees would then incorrectly credit Broderick Jones with a late-hit flag, with Spender Anderson being the true culprit of the 15-yard penalty.  Pittsburgh looks to get the ball rolling against the Colts after giving up 14 points to Indianpolis in the first quarter.

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Lions CB coach Deshea Townsend not worried about DPI penalties for Terrion Arnold

Arnold has more DPI penalties through 3 weeks than all but one other entire NFL team, but Townsend likes what he sees

Terrion Arnold has been impressive in coverage through his first three games at cornerback for the Detroit Lions. The first-round pick very much looks the part of a shutdown outside cornerback with his quickness, instincts and attitude.

There’s been a consistent issue for Arnold, however. Pass interference.

Arnold has been flagged for defensive pass interference four times in three games. That’s more than every other team in the league through three weeks except the Broncos all by himself.

The Lions cornerbacks coach, longtime NFL CB Deshea Townsend, isn’t worried about the flags on Arnold. He knows they’re an inevitable part of playing corner in the NFL.

“That’s the thing in the league; if you’re a DB and you’ve played, you’ve had at least one PI called on you,” Townsend said via Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network. “That’s just the nature of the business. He just has to keep playing. That’s the one thing that we have to continue to do is not worry about the penalties and just go play.

I always kind of joke around and tell them, ‘They can’t call 60 PIs, so just keep being close.’ That’s what we want. He’s been close in a lot of coverages and that’s the main thing. We want to continue to work on those little things and being close in coverage.”

Townsend continued on his first-round pupil,

“He’s been great. I look back to my rookie year and his year, and I would take his over mine. He’s been doing a great job.”

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Steelers are bringing in extra support for their recent penalty issues

Steelers are bringing in officials on extra days of practice to assist with penalty woes.

Aside from a subpar offense, one of the key differences between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the eight other undefeated teams is that the Steelers have the second-most penalties against them in the league.  This was on display in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, as the Steelers had multiple flags called against them.  Several of these penalties, from both Week 1 and Week 2, wiped away key moments of success for the Steelers.

Mike Tomlin acknowledged this in Tuesday’s media availability and stated that the Steelers would be looking to change things up.

https://twitter.com/SteelersUpdate1/status/1836119894611628056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Hopefully, these two extra days with officials will make a key difference in dealing with the troubling penalty bug that has crept into the Pittsburgh locker room.

This week the Steelers have their home opener. They take on the Los Angeles Chargers who are among the nine undefeated teams left in the NFL along with the Steelers.

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Former official tries to explain unfair treatment of T.J. Watt

T.J. Watt cannot get a break from the refs.

We have all seen the replays of Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt beating an offensive tackle off the edge, only to see the OT put him in a headlock and grab his shoulders just to slow him down.

Then we look for the officials to throw a flag and unfortunately, it rarely comes. Typically when it comes to star players, they get preferential treatment from the refs like quarterbacks getting soft roughing calls and wide receivers getting away with offensive pass interference on many players.

But this isn’t the case for Watt. In fact, according to former official Gene Steratore, it works the other way around.

“There’s the phrase, ‘They’re holding on every play.’ Yes, to some extent, they are,” Steratore said. “Does it rise to the level of a foul? And a lot of times with TJ, just because he is just so good, it’s like, ‘Yeah, it did rise to the level of a foul again.'”

So is he saying the foul happens but because it’s Watt they don’t throw the flag? As if to imply Watt will never get a fair shake from the officials because he’s just too talented.

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Najee Harris vents about problems with Steelers offense

Najee Harris is tried of the same old same old with the Steelers offense.

The first two games of the 2024 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers have looked an awful lot like the bulk of the 2023 season. Sloppy, mistake-filled football on offense creating lackluster results and forcing the defense to play out of their minds to pick them up.

This is a detail not missed on running back Najee Harris. He vented after the team’s 13-6 win over the Denver Broncos and didn’t mince words about what all these penalties have done to the offense.

It’s tough for the running backs but shit, we just have to execute on these passes … it’s the same shit. We just have to execute. We aren’t being conservative. We are just (expletive) ourselves. We make a play and get a penalty that pushes us back and gets us off schedule. The plays you want to run you can’t run anymore because it is 2nd and 12.

https://twitter.com/MarkKaboly/status/1835678301462880652

The Broncos were actually penalized more than the Steelers but there’s no doubt the Steelers’ penalties stung more. There was at least one touchdown taken off the board due to a penalty and the hold on Broderick Jones that got him benched negated a play that at minimum put the Steelers in field goal range.

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10 takeaways from the Broncos’ 26-20 loss to Seahawks

The Broncos lost to the Seahawks in Week 1, but there were a few positives to take away from the game.

The Denver Broncos opened the 2024 season with a 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1. Here are ten quick takeaways from the defeat.

1. The defense will be a strength in 2024: Yes, the unit lost some steam in the second half, but the Broncos’ defense had a strong showing overall. With two sacks, one interception and two safeties, Denver’s defense (and special teams units) gave the team a chance to win on Sunday. 

2. The backfield rotation was nearly even: Jaleel McLaughlin got two more carries (10) than Javonte Williams (8). McLaughlin was also more involved in the passing game (5 targets) than Williams (1 target), but the game flow likely affected some of that utilization. When the Broncos aren’t trailing, it seems like a mostly 50-50 rotation. Audric Estime also mixed in, but he needs to hold onto the ball if he wants to get more opportunities.

3. Devaughn Vele could be a breakout player on offense: Vele was tied with the second-most targets (8) on the team. He ended the day with eight receptions for 39 yards. That’s not a hugely impressive stat line, but Vele’s targets suggest he will be a key player in Denver’s offense. 

4. Cody Barton might lose his starting job: A little more than a week after signing with the Broncos, Kristian Welch was rotating in on defense next to Alex Singleton, taking snaps away from Barton. That can’t be a good sign for Barton’s chances of holding onto the starting job. 

5. Pat Surtain remains the NFL’s best cornerback: PS2 covered DK Metcalf on 24 of the WR’s 25 routes, limiting him to three receptions for 29 yards. Surtain also shut down a two-point attempt thrown to Metcalf. 

6. Penalities continue to hurt the Broncos: Denver was sloppy in preseason with silly penalties and coach Sean Payton said they needed to be cleaned up. No success thus far as the Broncos were penalized eight times for 60 yards on Sunday. 

7. The offense squandered opportunities: Denver’s offense was set up with great field position right at the start of the game after a Singleton interception, but they were forced to settle for a field goal. The offense also settled for a field goal after the special teams unit set them up with great field position after a fumble recovery. Getting the ball back after a pair of safeties also led to zero points from the offense. If the Broncos are going to win games, the offense needs to be more opportunistic. 

8. Jonathon Cooper was Denver’s best edge defender: Cooper finished the day with six tackles and two sacks. He looked better than Nik Bonitto and Baron Browning, who had a silly offside penalty to help the Seahawks pick up a first down and seal the game. 

9. Run game and WRs did not do much to help Bo Nix: Look, the rookie wasn’t great (more on that in a moment), but he also didn’t get a lot of help. Williams averaged 2.9 yards per carry. McLaughlin averaged 2.7 yards per tote. Lil’Jordan Humphrey dropped a pass. All of the team’s receivers struggled to create separation on their routes. Better performances from everyone else on offense would have helped Nix.

10. Bo Nix struggled: Bottom line, Sunday’s poor performance was on Nix. Teammates could have helped him out overall, but the QB only had himself to blame for poor footwork, staring down receivers, throwing passes behind his targets and throwing into triple coverage. Nix’s decision-making has to improve and his passes need to be more accurate. The good news is that the rookie never quit and the scored late (on the ground) to help the Broncos get back in the game. Nix’s rookie growing pains were on full display on Sunday, but fans in Denver will hope for better days ahead. 

Up next for the Broncos is a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.

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