Late in the first half with the Pittsburgh Steelers trailing the Jacksonville Jaguars 9-3, veteran kicker Chris Boswell drilled a 55-yard field goal to apparently send the two teams into the half with the Steelers down 9-6 after a rough first half of play.
Instead, a flag was thrown by a member of Alan Eck’s crew, calling Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo — lined up at right guard on field goal protection — offsides for lining up in the neutral zone, negating the field goal.
That call had the Steelers rightfully irate as Boswell then missed the 61-yarder and had points taken off the board on a call that head coach Mike Tomlin stated he had never seen in his 17 years on the sideline.
Seumalo stated he did nothing wrong on the play, lining up where he has on the play every time in his eight years in the NFL, while Boswell voiced his displeasure on Instagram after the game. Even former NFL referee Mike Pereira stated the officials got the call wrong live, though Eck and his crew doubled down on the call after the Jaguars’ 20-10 win.
That led to former NFL official and Pittsburgh native Gene Steratore blasting the call Tuesday during his appearance on 102.5 WDVE’s morning show with Randy Baumann. He stated that as officials, you “just don’t go there” with that call, especially when it’s a field goal play and a not a short-yardage play like a QB sneak or the “tush push.”
“I know that they put some emphasis there because they want to make sure it [neutral zone] is completely clean and no one can cheat that inch or two in those scenarios. That’s the art of the game, though. But this is a field goal, where someone’s left pinky might be in the neutral zone. Is there a competitive advantage to that play? Do we officiate that field goal the same way we would officiate a fourth-and-inches at the goal line on a ‘tush push’? No,” Steratore said, according to audio via iHeart Radio. “So get in the moment. Know what you’re dealing with.
“This is an assumption from me, but that’s where they went on that play. We’ve got to be aware of situational football in officiating. In my opinion, you just don’t go there [making that call]. You just don’t go there.”
Unfortunately for the Steelers, Eck’s crew went there and made the rather mind-blowing call on Seumalo even though he clearly was not offsides, though a Jaguars defender on the end of the line closest to the Steelers’ sideline was in the neutral zone.
The game-changing call that took points off the board and was part of a series of bad officiating from the Steelers-Jaguars game, including a roughing the passer call on Keanu Neal on a textbook hit on Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and an uncalled roughing the passer on Jacksonville’s Adam Gotsis on a hit that injured Kenny Pickett.
The issues in the Steelers-Jaguars game from the officiating was a good summation of the issues officials are having across the league in 2023. Players spotting their own football, officials moving the ball late after already setting it, and the inconsistencies with roughing the passer and pass interference.
The league better get it figured out – and fast — because officiating is ruining a great product.
