Late in the third quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, S Minkah Fitzpatrick was flagged for unnecessary roughness for hitting a what was deemed a defenseless A.D. Mitchell. Fitzpatrick looked like he tried to pull back and avoid the contact, but the officials flew the flag, which ended up leading to the Colts extending their lead to two scores. During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Mike Tomlin said he thought the Steelers still had chances to win after the call but added that he spoke to the league office about it.
“I didn’t like that call, I talked to New York yesterday, they didn’t like that call as well, but that doesn’t help me on a Monday,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “The officials aren’t perfect, none of us are. We make mistakes in-game that we have to overcome, and if they make a mistake in-game, we better be prepared to overcome that as well.”
Pretty much nobody, except maybe the ref who threw the flag, has agreed with the call. On the broadcast, former official Gene Steratore criticized the call and did so again on the DVE Morning Show today. Fitzpatrick and S DeShon Elliott didn’t hold back when talking about how bad of a call it was after the game. Even Steelers legends James Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger spoke out about how bad of a call it was, and while the league office admitted it was a bad call, it doesn’t change the outcome.
It gave the Colts a new set of downs inside of facing a 3rd and 10 from their own 42, and it allowed them to extend their lead to 24-10 after Pittsburgh had cut it to a one-score lead. Tomlin is right that the Steelers still had a chance to win after the flag, as they had the ball with over two minutes left down by three. But there’s no doubt that the flag had a huge impact on the game with Indianapolis extending its lead and making it more difficult for Pittsburgh to come back.
It’s unfortunate that the call was made in that spot and watching it back it was clearly the wrong call. It’s not the first time there’s been issues with referee Land Clark’s crew this season, as it had issues on Sunday Night Football in Week 2 when a fight broke out on the sideline between the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears. Maybe with the league taking issue with the flag on Fitzpatrick, it’s a crew that’ll be monitored closely by the league.
Either way, it doesn’t help the Steelers now, and they need to look ahead to winning and moving to 4-1 against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
