Steelers defense bailed out on MNF thanks to iffy Giants penalty

If you were watching the Steelers on Monday Night Football, it was hard to miss the yellow laundry flying in the first half. Pittsburgh held a 6-3 lead when the New York Giants looked to answer back.

That's exactly what they did... until the refs wiped a Giants touchdown off the board.

The Steelers were in for an ugly defensive series. Even after New York had penalties that forced them to move back, they were still able to march down the throat of Pittsburgh's defense.

Daniel Jones and company made it look easy. But their 12-play scoring drive came to an end due to a controversial penalty on Giants WR Malik Nabers. The rookie wide receiver was called for an illegal shift, though it appeared he was set.

On this play, the Giants would have scored a touchdown. Instead, New York ultimately settled for a field goal -- tying the game at 6-6.

When Monday Night Football returned from a commercial timeout, the rules analyst gave an explanation of why the penalty was called. Nabers wasn't completely set at the beginning of the play coming out of the huddle before going in motion.

Steelers save points on controversial call on MNF

While this is technically the right call, it didn't impact the play, and the Steelers defense was gifted a stop in the red zone that was undeserving.

This was hardly the only controversial call in the game. Giants head coach Brian Daboll was screaming to the officials on the sideline when it looked like Joey Porter Jr. committed pass interference against Malik Nabers.

Shortly after, Mike Tomlin challenged a George Pickens catch that he thought should have resulted in a touchdown. The Steelers are playing their third primetime game, and once again, it's hard to ignore the referee's impact on the game.