It’s not the most recent game that the Pittsburgh Steelers played, but the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Eight at Acrisure Stadium led to some fines for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the league announced Saturday.
Against the Jaguars, veteran safety Damontae Kazee was levied two fines of $11,806 for two fouls of unnecessary roughness, both of which were not called in the game. Star outside linebacker T.J. Watt was fined $16,391 for a hit on Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the first quarter as well, with that play not being flagged, either.
Watt’s fine was due to the contact he made to the helmet of Lawrence in the first quarter after batting a pass. On a second and 10 from the Jacksonville 39-yard line, Watt broke free into the backfield and batted down a pass from Lawrence that was intended for running back Travis Etienne.
On the follow-through of the batted pass, Watt connected with Lawrence’s face mask, resulting in his fine of more than $16k.
The fine for Kazee marks the second straight week he’s been fined for the NFL for unflagged plays, according to the Gameday Accountability page from NFL Football Operations.
Kazee’s first fine from the league coming out of Week Eight was for a tackle on Etienne at the 13:01 mark of the second quarter. Kazee went low on Etienne while coming downhill to play the run. He ducked his head and led with his helmet, which presumably led to the fine.
Later in the game on the same Jacksonville drive at the 11:46 mark, Kazee laid a hit on Jacksonville wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who went sliding to the turf to catch a pass from Lawrence. Kazee led with his shoulder but hit a defenseless receiver in an awkward position, leading to the fine.
Again, that play did not garner a flag in the game.
In Week Seven against the Los Angeles Rams, Kazee was fined $11,806 for a hit on Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua. Saturday’s two fines from the NFL marks the third time this season Kazee has been fined overall as he was fined in Week Two against the Cleveland Browns for unnecessary roughness.
Steelers’ veteran safety Keanu Neal was not fined for his roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter, which was a bad call, while the hit on Steelers’ quarterback Kenny Pickett from Jacksonville defensive lineman Adam Gotsis was fined $7,167 Saturday, though the hit was incorrectly not flagged, which led to a rib injury for Pickett that knocked him from the game.
Though the hit ultimately knocked Pickett from the game in Week Eight against the Jaguars, the second-year quarterback was able to play on a short week in Week Nine on Thursday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans, helping lead the Steelers to a late game-winning drive, throwing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson to help the Steelers move to 5-3 on the season.
It is worth noting that Johnson was not fined for his comments to the media after the game against the Jaguars, stating to reporters that the “refs wanted them [Jacksonville] to win” based on on the calls that were going against the Steelers. That said, the fines handed out Saturday are for on-field plays only. A fine for Johnson and his comments regarding the officials could be coming from the league at a later time.
All NFL fine amounts are set by the CBA and go up a predetermined percentage each year. All fines go to charity.
