The topic of the officiating during the Steelers-Jaguars game has been one circulating the throughout the media and the fan base the last 24 hours as Alan Eck and his crew have been heavily scrutinized for their managing of the game on Sunday.
Multiple players have expressed their displeasure for several calls throughout the contest. They included LG Isaac Seumalo and K Chris Boswell on an offsides call on Seumalo that nullified Boswell’s 55-yard field goal, pushing Pittsburgh back five yards as Boswell missed the second try. WR Diontae Johnson also was visibly upset with the refs after the game, stating to the media that Eck’s crew cost Pittsburgh the game by having questionable calls on CB James Pierre for a pass interference and S Keanu Neal for a roughing-the-passer penalty.
Still, when going through his opening remarks in his weekly press conference, head coach Mike Tomlin made a point to address the officiating and how his players shouldn’t be looking toward the calls on the field as an excuse for the loss they took at home.
“I know a lot has been written and said or asked about the officiating and so forth,” Tomlin said to the media on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “Here’s my mindset and our mindset regarding officiating. Man, it is our desire to win definitively where potentially controversial calls are less significant. That’s what good teams do, that’s what elite teams do. It’s our desire to be a good and elite team, so that we are not as flimsy and become a component of some debatable calls and things of that nature. I acknowledge that it was some of that in the game, but it’s some of that in most games, to be quite honest with you. Things that are capable of being reviewed or assessed in that way.
“I like to focus my energies on the things that are within our control, the quality of our execution. And I think when you do that definitively, it makes those discussions much relevant. And I think that’s the point that I wanna make to our football team moving forward. You just simply gotta make those things… those discussions less significant by the quality of your play, by winning and winning definitively. And obviously we didn’t play well enough for that to transpire.”
Tomlin himself expressed his displeasure during and after the game for some of the calls made on the field, being critical of the offsides call on Seumalo, which he hasn’t seen in 17 years as a head coach. You could see Tomlin’s frustration with the call in the clip below. Typically calm and even-tempered in those moments, he let his frustration come out as the flags continued to stack up against Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Still, Tomlin acknowledges that dwelling on it isn’t going to do any good as Jacksonville is in the past as Pittsburgh has a short week, hosting the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night. Blaming the refs for the loss also isn’t going to do him or his team any good either as the Steelers again struggled mightily when it came to executing on the field while being outschemed by Jacksonville. LB Foyesade Oluokun said that Jacksonville’s defense called out plenty of Pittsburgh’s plays before they happened on Sunday.
The officiating definitely impacted Pittsburgh against the Jaguars, but it was the Steelers’ poor play that lost them the game. Tomlin mentioned that the Steelers should have been in position where the game isn’t being dictated on a call by a referee, doing enough on their own to be the better team on the field. The Steelers weren’t that on Sunday as the Jags played better on both sides of the ball for most of the contest, giving Pittsburgh chances to get back into the game with three turnovers.
Tomlin made his case to his players, stating that they must win more definitively to prevent the outcome of games from falling out of their control. Pittsburgh hasn’t been able to do that, winning one-score games by means of second-half comebacks where the offense catches a spark while having the defense keep a lid on things to keep the score close. They will have to start doing better at executing on the field to secure more convincing wins in the future as they strive to be a team that can complete with the top ones in the AFC.
