Pittsburgh Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick was called for a very questionable unnecessary roughness penalty against WR Adonai Mitchell in the third quarter of the Steelers’ 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and Fitzpatrick said after the game that he doesn’t know “what we’re playing” and lamented the state of football.
“I thought we were playing football. I don’t know what we’re playing at this point. Very different game than what I grew up playing and what I grew up loving. Can’t hit nobody hard, can’t be violent. So I don’t know what to say anymore,” Fitzpatrick said via Chris Adamski of TribLive on Twitter.
Fitzpatrick pulled up to avoid making helmet-to-helmet contact with Mitchell, who slowed down, which caused the contact to happen. Fitzpatrick was coming in at full speed and tried to slow himself down, but there was still some contact and the officials deemed Mitchell a defenseless player.
DeShon Elliott, Fitzpatrick’s safety partner, also wasn’t a fan of the call, calling it “bullshit” per a video posted by 93.7 The Fan on Twitter.
“That was bullshit. I don’t care. That was BS. That was not okay. Because that was legal. He did nothing malicious. He didn’t even hit him in the head. He led with his shoulder,” Elliott said.
Former NFL official Gene Steratore also questioned the call, and there’s really no doubt that it was a bad call. It had a big impact on the game as it moved the Colts into Pittsburgh territory and helped set up a touchdown to make it a 24-10 game.
If Fitzpatrick had led with his head or made no effort to pull back or turn, then it would’ve been a justifiable flag, but Fitzpatrick did everything he could to avoid a big hit on Mitchell. He was trying to make a play on the ball, which was simply overthrown by QB Joe Flacco, and it put Mitchell and Fitzpatrick in each other’s path.
The NFL has made an effort to crack down on big hits as it continues to push for concussion mitigation, but sometimes plays like the one Fitzpatrick made draw a flag just because of how things look. It might have looked worse in real time, and because officials are trained to throw flags when they think there’s a hit on a defenseless player, they’re going to throw the flag in that situation even though it’s not a penalty.
That’s where it seems as if a lot of Fitzpatrick’s frustration stems. The game has changed, largely in favor of the offense, and he picked up a phantom penalty today just because the play looked worse than what it was on initial contact. It was a bad call that hurt the Steelers, and both Fitzpatrick and Elliott are rightfully upset over a call that played a role in the Steelers’ first loss of the season.
