The Pittsburgh Steelers lost an ugly game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, falling 20-10 at home in a game where the offense struggled to get anything going throughout the contest. The defense did the best it could to keep Pittsburgh in the game into the second half, but eventually cracked on a 56-yard TD pass from QB Trevor Lawrence to RB Travis Etienne, breaking the game open for Jacksonville.
The offense made life hard on the defense throughout the contest, but the officiating also created problems for Pittsburgh. The referee crew working the game got flag happy, calling penalties at a high rate with plenty affecting the Steelers’ defense. While WR Diontae Johnson expressed his frustration with the refs, OLB T.J. Watt decided to look inward when asked about how he works through those calls and other variables outside of his control in the heat of the moment.
“Continue to try to do my job and the job is to go out there and play solid defense, try to deliver the ball, try to get off the field as quickly as possible, try to flip field position, and don’t have time to look around and point blame.” Watt said to the media via video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “None of us are playing the way that we should right now.”
The Steelers’ defense was on the wrong end of several calls by Alan Eck’s officiating crew. CB James Pierre picked up a bad pass interference penalty on Jacksonville’s opening possession while S Keanu Neal got called for a roughing the passer penalty on Trevor Lawrence. It appeared less egregious than the hit DL Adam Gotsis put on QB Kenny Pickett late in the first half, knocking him out of the game.
Still, Watt shouldered the blame for the loss, as any good leader would do. Watt himself had a good game, having a sack and a pass deflection with a couple of tackles, but it wasn’t enough. Pittsburgh made multiple splash plays on defense, but still wore down as the game got into the second half, putting the Steelers in position where the game was out of reach for their sputtering offense to come back with their starting quarterback out of the game.
The Steelers may be 4-3 after the loss, but it hasn’t been a pretty road to get there. The team has a minus-34 point differential through its first seven games and has had bad moments consistently on offense with the defense allowing splash plays in all three contests now that the Steelers have lost. The refs can be blamed for their part in today’s game, but the players must also take ownership for their performance as well, recognizing the product they are putting on the field right now isn’t winning football. Watt and the Steelers will have to rebound fast with a big game against the Tennessee Titans coming up on Thursday night.
