The Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders played a pretty clean game as far as penalties go. The Steelers had seven accepted penalties against them for 50 yards while the Raiders had just four for 42 yards. There could have been one more, however, and it would have been a significant one. Raiders CB Jack Jones was fined for taunting the Steelers’ sideline, but it was not called a penalty on the play.
Per the NFL Operations page for fines and gameday accountability, Jones was fined $5,472 for taunting on the play below.
It was more of a drop by Pickens than anything that Jones did well on the play. Pickens almost caught it after bobbling the ball, but couldn’t haul it in. Since it was a 3rd and 12 play, Jones was fired up that the defense was getting off the field. He almost prevented that from happening, however, as he mouthed off to the Steelers sideline.
He appeared to be directing his ire towards either WR coach Zach Azzanni or RB Najee Harris. I looked and there appear to be no ties between Harris or Azzanni to Jones at past teams. Maybe one of them said something to him then or at some other point in the game that sent him over the edge.
That drive was the Steelers’ only three-and-out of the day. The taunting penalty falls under the category of unsportsmanlike conduct. That carries a 15-yard penalty. Players get ejected from the game if they have two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the same game. The taunting was relatively benign, but the NFL made it a point to eliminate taunting from the game a couple years ago. It usually leads to escalating emotions and retaliation later in the game.
Per the fines and appeals page on the NFL operations website, the first offense for taunting is supposed to cost a player $11,255. It is able to be reduced if that is a significant portion of the player’s game check. The normal fine would’ve been almost 20-percent of his game check, which is why it was probably reduced. He has the option to appeal that fine, but they don’t normally make those decisions public.
Fines are donated to non-profits to benefit NFL legends in need as well as health and safety of players at every level of the sport.
