Three Pittsburgh Steelers are walking away with a loss and a lighter wallet from their Week 5 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Linebacker Myles Jack and offensive guards James Daniels and Kevin Dotson were fined for their action’s last Sunday, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Jack has been fined $10,609 for his illegal blindside hit on Buffalo Bills’ TE Tommy Sweeney in the team’s Week 5 loss.
The play occurred at the end of RB Devin Singletary’s 23-yard run with Jack peeling back and leveling an unsuspecting Sweeney at the very end of the run. Sweeney wasn’t involved in the play and Singletary had already been tackled out of bounds making this a very dirty hit by Jack.
Take a look at the play.
The NFL is right to fine Jack for this hit. Jack has been fined twice in as many years, his wallet made lighter for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty last season as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But Jack isn’t the only Steeler facing a fine. Offensive guard James Daniels has been fined $10,609 for this late hit on Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin after Hamlin hit QB Kenny Pickett late on this slide. Ditto with Kevin Dotson, whose fine is smaller at $5,887.
Daniels was flagged for the initial hit while Dotson rushed over to the sidelines and pushed a Bills’ player from behind. Daniels would later tell reporters he was simply sticking up for his franchise quarterback. Teammates like Cam Heyward supported Daniels’ actions but a fine here was predictable for what was a late hit, justified or not. As Pelissero noted, Hamlin was not fined for his hit on Pickett.
As hit tweet also reports, Kenny Pickett nor Bills’ DE Shaq Lawson were fined for their skirmish at the end of Sundays’ loss. Pickett pushed and shoved Lawson after Lawson made a low tackle on Pickett late in the fourth quarter. Both players were flagged for their involvement in the play.
In total, that’s three Steelers’ fined and zero Bills’ players.
All fines go to an NFL-designated charity. Fines are preset amounts agreed to by the CBA that go up a certain yearly percentage. This marks the first time this season any Steelers’ player has been fined.
