The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders was rare for the franchise. The last time they recorded a road win by multiple possessions came back in 2020. They had two such wins that year, including a 27-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. But those who watched the game understand the Steelers benefited from the decisions of the officiating crew.
While you could make the case in favor of every penalty they did call, the fact is the Steelers got the majority of the breaks. And when a team gets that favor from the officiating, it’s hard to win. In fact, it often opens the door for a blowout, as we saw.
Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is among those who took some issue with the officiating, though he found one flag particularly frustrating—arguably the most transparent one. The Raiders had a touchdown negated by penalty due to an offensive lineman being downfield. An ineligible player cannot be more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage when a pass is thrown. While you can hate the rule, you can’t hate a call that enforces the rule.
“Absolutely crazy and ridiculous”, Roethlisberger said of the point swing the Steelers profited from due to the slant of the penalties, on his Footbahlin podcast. “I thought there were a couple that were a little [questionable]. We hit a receiver on the back like crazy, hit him upside the head. No flag? Good for us. [Justin] Fields bear hugs and gets a roughing-the-passer call? Great job! We’ll take it”.
Roethlisberger refers to a hit by Steelers ILB Elandon Roberts, who came in with a big hit while two other defenders were already tackling a receiver following a big catch. Roberts did not draw a flag; personally, I didn’t think the hit was late or excessive.
I don’t think Roethlisberger had any issue with the Steelers not drawing a flag there, though. He was talking more about what the officials didn’t let the Raiders get away with, especially the ineligible man downfield penalty that took a touchdown off the board.
“Awful call”, the former Steelers quarterback said. “It’s not even an RPO. The guy’s blocking and he blocks hard and he kind of stumbles and he ends up being, like, two yards downfield and then he kind of steps back to the line of scrimmage. So, yeah, by rule, was he downfield? Maybe. I can’t even tell you for sure. He got back, but how are you going to penalize an offensive lineman for blocking and stumbling?”.
Roethlisberger admitted that he is biased because of his love for his former Steelers offensive linemen, but I think there are legitimate issues with the rule itself. Just a one-yard runway isn’t much real estate, and the rule wasn’t always that restrictive. I have argued in favor of making it at least two yards in the past.
But again, a questionable rule is not equivalent to a questionable flag. I don’t think there is any question the Raiders committed the infraction in question. And it’s not the Steelers’ fault that they forced a fumble shortly after that.
“It’s like, holy cow. If they don’t call the man downfield, then it’s a different ball game potentially”, Roethlisberger said. “I didn’t love the call”. But, he added, “The weirdness always happened in [the Steelers’] favor this time, so it was good”.
