The Pittsburgh Steelers are doing their victory lap after defeating the Atlanta Falcons on their own turf in Week 1. But they didn't just defeat an out-of-conference NFC South opponent on Sunday; they had a full-fledged battle against the officials.
From start to finish, the referees found a way to make the Steelers work hard for every single yard and defensive stop they earned. It began with a bogus offensive pass interference call on George Pickens that wiped away what would have been at least a field goal.
But that was only the beginning of one of the worst officiated games we've seen in years.
From the second quarter through the end of the game, Pittsburgh saw a T.J. Watt strip-sack wiped away from a phantom offsides call, Broderick Jones get flagged for a personal foul when he clubbed in the face by a Falcons defender after the play, and Pickens get ruled down by contact without being touched by a defender.
All of these outrageous calls had Steelers fans blowing their lid.
Refs took away #Steelers two biggest plays of the game
— Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) September 8, 2024
Refs player of game in Steelers game
— AB (@AB84) September 8, 2024
With decent refs I betcha this game ends 27-3 for the Steelers.
— Michael Beck (@MichaelBeck56) September 8, 2024
Steelers haven’t been good, but refs have been tough to overcome too. 2 extremely questionable calls against them are biggest in the game
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) September 8, 2024
If Steelers win this they did it despite the most biased ref job I’ve seen In a long time
— Adam Steel (@RenegadeAdam) September 8, 2024
Refs in the Steelers/Falcons should all be fired. Shameful.
— Jlegally (@j_legally) September 8, 2024
I’m actually done with these refs, this is unbelievable and unacceptable . NFL actually has to do something about this
— Rico 🧃 (@SteelersRuinMe) September 8, 2024
We all can join in this frustration caused by an incompetent officiating crew. Every time it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers were gaining momentum and about to put the game out of reach, the refs would make an outrageous call that had social media exploding.
Steelers were fortunate to hang onto win despite awful officiating
This is the same Brad Rogers officiating crew that let the yellow laundry fly 211 times during the 2023 season. Before the game, I voiced my concern about the referees in the game, as the home team won over 82 percent of the games Rogers' crew called last season.
It looked like he was trying to keep that lopsided statistic going. By the end of the game, Steelers fans were furious, and it was almost hard to enjoy the win.
At least we can take comfort in knowing the Steelers won the battle against both the Falcons and the refs in Week 1. There were plenty of egregious calls in this contest. Let's hope we don't see another Steelers game officiated this poorly in 2024.