The officiating went from bad to worse in the first half of the Steelers Week 1 contest against the Atlanta Falcons. Fans lost their cool when George Pickens was flagged for a phantom offensive pass interference with just minutes remaining in the first half.
Sadly, this wasn't even the worst call against the Steelers in the first half.
Shortly after the referees essentially wiped points off the board for the Steelers with the egregious call against Pickens, T.J. Watt was at the receiving end of a penalty.
As the Falcons were marching down the field for a score just before halftime, Watt burst off the line of scrimmage and dusted right tackle Kaleb McGary for a strip-sack that would have resulted in Pittsburgh's football. Unfortunately, this play was wiped away as Watt was called for being offsides.
At first glance, it appeared that Watt jumped early on the play. The All-Pro edge rusher and former Defensive Player of the Year exploded off the edge for what would have been a sack and forced fumble on Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. But upon replay, you could see that Watt had not crossed the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped.
A Steelers fan captured a clip of Watt's pass rush in slow motion where you can clearly see that Watt's entire body was on the Steelers' side of the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped.
Watt's bogus penalty shifted the tides of the Steelers vs. Falcons game
This bogus penalty wiped away the play of game for the Steelers. Immediately afterward, Watt was fuming when speaking with Mike Tomlin on the sidelines... and rightfully so.
I had concerns about this officiating crew leading up to the game. Brad Rogers' crew was penalty-happy during the 2023 season. What's worse is that the home team won over 82 percent of the games he officiated last year.
At this rate, the Steelers are going to be just another Brad Rogers statistic. This crew needs to get their crap in order and figure things out in a hurry if Pittsburgh is to stand any shot at beating the Falcons in Week 1.