There were no fines issued in the Week 1 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Atlanta Falcons, a somewhat surprising outcome given there were offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties and a late hit by OLB Matthew Judon on WR George Pickens.
Pittsburgh was among the most-fined teams in the NFL last season, so starting off Week 1 without a fine is a good start for Pittsburgh. It’s a little bit baffling that Judon wasn’t fined for that late hit on Pickens, and there was also a chance that Broderick Jones and Grady Jarrett got fined for their post-play scrap in which both were penalized.
Other than those two instances, it was a relatively clean game, although there was a lot of talking after the play, especially early in the game. That’s to be expected for the first game that two teams face off against live competition that actually matters, but nothing elevated to the level that deserved to be fined in the eyes of the NFL.
The NFL clearly didn’t see enough to hand out a fine on anyone, and everyone will exit the game with full pockets. In a shocking turn of events, the league didn’t find a way to find RB Jaylen Warren for some innocuous, seemingly legal hit in his limited snaps in Week 1. Warren was fined often last season, with many of the fines not making a whole lot of sense.
It really is surprising that the NFL didn’t see a reason to fine Judon for that late, blindside hit on Pickens, and luckily Pickens didn’t get injured from the hit. But despite some of their questionable fines last season, the NFL didn’t seem to think that rose to the level of finable.
We’ll see if the Steelers get any fines in Week 2, but coming out of Week 1, the team has to be happy that they don’t owe any extra money for their actions in Week 1.
