After a disappointing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers did not bounce back against the Green Bay Packers. Instead, they underwhelmed once again. They weren’t good enough on offense or defense. However, the Steelers weren’t the only ones who looked rough in the 35-25 loss to the Packers. The officials were also poor. There’s no greater example of that than when they missed a blatant offsides by a pair of Packers defenders. Mike Tomlin isn’t dwelling on that no-call, though.
“It’s irrelevant because you can’t get it back,” Tomlin said after the Steelers dropped to 4-3 via the team’s Twitter. “I thought it was an error. But you can’t get it back. Explanations mean very little.”
The play in question came early in the third quarter, and it’s when the Steelers really started to lose momentum. At that point, they were up 16-7. The Steelers hadn’t played perfect, but they had managed to contain the Packers. On that drive, they had a chance to really separate themselves.
Unfortunately, they didn’t do that. Instead, the Steelers went three and out. They should’ve gotten another down to work with, though. On 3rd and 8, Rodgers got the Packers to jump with his cadence. He had a free play, which ended up being an incompletion to Roman Wilson. Still, the Steelers’ offense should have had a much more manageable third down as they tried to move the sticks.
After that, the Steelers punted, and the Packers drove down the field and scored a touchdown. There was a lot of game left, but the Steelers didn’t do much right after that.
Still, Tomlin is correct that there’s no point complaining about it. Were the referees wrong to not call it? Yes, but there’s no changing what happened. That play shouldn’t have been enough to totally flip the game for the Steelers.
Instead, the Steelers should focus on controlling what they can control. For instance, their offense looked disjointed, and their defense might be in need of a major overhaul. They’ve got some more pressing matters at hand than poor officiating. It’s frustrating but is what it is. Hopefully, the Steelers play better in the future so that missed calls don’t impact them too severely.
