The offensive pass interference penalty on Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens was one of the pivotal moments of the first half of their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Rather than first down at the Falcons’ 18, they had 3rd and 19 from their 36. With a 46-yard swing and horrible down and distance, it’s no surprise they punted one play later.
And the Falcons responded with a nine-play touchdown drive after the punt to take a 10-6 lead. Even that needs a caveat because the touchdown came one play after officials arguably erroneously negated a T.J. Watt strip-sack and fumble recovery with an offside penalty. We’re talking about a 10-point swing at least on the Pickens penalty, but fortunately, they made it not matter.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is hardly unbiased, but he had some thoughts on the penalty. While he agrees that the officials made a bad call, he also explained why they flagged Pickens. He discussed that topic and many others (including Pickens’ blocking) on his Footbahlin podcast yesterday.
“Did he push off? Yes. Was it the smallest push-off? Absolutely. Absolutely. It was the smallest thing ever. Were there probably 15 worse ones in that game? Probably. Were there 100 worse ones in all of football today? Probably”, Roethlisberger said of the George Pickens penalty.
“But what got him was the two hands. If it would have been the same push [with one hand]—he probably could have pushed harder with one hand and gotten away with it”. Roethlisberger is right that Pickens did use both hands to create separation from the defender. “The ref’s looking right at him. When you see two [hands], I’m telling you, that’s what it was. It didn’t have to be egregious. Two hands”.
George Pickens had only drawn one offensive pass interference penalty during his career prior to Sunday, and none last season. His first and hopefully only one of the 2024 season negated a 36-yard catch and tons of momentum as well. And Roethlisberger doesn’t think it was the right decision by the officials.
“Awful. Awful call. Awful call. But that’s my two cents”, he said, harping on Pickens using both hands to create separation. “I think if he doesn’t put two hands and give the small push [he gets away with it]. … We always said you couldn’t extend. If you push like this with a little short, you get away with it. When they see that extension, that’s the bad”.
Now, I’m going to be honest. The more I watched the play, the more I could see why the officials flagged Pickens. He did extend his arms, even if not completely straight, and he used that to create separation. No, it’s not the most egregious act I’ve ever seen, and such interaction frequently goes unflagged.
And sometimes, for better or worse, that has to do with reputation. As good as he is, George Pickens doesn’t get the royal treatment yet. Perhaps he will earn more leeway from the officials over time, as Joey Porter Jr. hopes to. But if we learned anything on Sunday, it’s that he clearly doesn’t right now. Because Antonio Brown got away with that all the time.
