Coming off their bye week, the Pittsburgh Steelers handled business. They beat the Cleveland Browns, 23-9, capturing their first win at Acrisure Stadium this season. Overall, the Steelers played a solid game on offense, defense, and special teams. However, they weren’t perfect. Penalties were their biggest issue, getting flagged 10 times for 59 yards.
“One area where we certainly fell short is the penalty component,” HC Mike Tomlin said after the Steelers improved to 4-1 via the team’s YouTube channel. “We scout [officiating] crews just like we scout teams. We know this crew throws a lot of penalties, and we dropped the ball in terms of our preparedness there.
“I’ll accept responsibility for that. We’ve got to be better. You can’t beat anybody when you’re beating yourself. I just felt like, at times, we did that today. So, we’ve gotta own that.”
That was the Steelers’ sloppiest game from a penalty perspective this season. Their matchup against the New England Patriots was also a little ugly, with Pittsburgh being called for eight penalties for 59 yards in that game. However, it felt like the Steelers had more unnecessary issues against the Browns.
T.J. Watt was twice penalized for lining up in the neutral zone. While neither of those offsides calls ended up seriously hurting the Steelers, they are the kind of mistakes that a veteran like Watt shouldn’t make.
Like in most games, there were also some questionable calls. One of the oddest penalties wiped out a big punt return by Ke’Shawn Williams. That play was called back due to a blindside block by Jabrill Peppers. It looked like a bad call, with Peppers trying to play with good technique, but he led with his back, which led the officials to call a penalty on him.
Ron Torbert’s crew officiated the Steelers game this week, and Tomlin is correct that it isn’t aren’t afraid to let flags fly. Before this week’s matchup, Torbert and Co. hadn’t called fewer than 17 penalties in a game yet this season. Between the Steelers and Browns, his crew called 16 penalties, falling just under that number but it was still a lot.
Torbert’s crew has also called more penalties on home teams than away teams this season. Even though the Steelers were aware of that, they weren’t able to minimize the impact of the referees. Ultimately, it didn’t cause them to lose, but it’s something they should work to iron out for the future.
