Leading up to this game, many football fans joked about which side the referees would take. The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers have a reputation for getting some favorable calls, and we didn't know which side the zebras would be on today.
Apparently, it's the side of the league's best-record team.
After the Pittsburgh Steelers had a touchdown wiped off the board from a ticky-tack holding call from tight end Darnell Washington, Mike Tomlin's team was tagged with an even more egregious call in the second quarter.
The Steelers were handed a gift when the Chiefs had twelve men on the field for a punt. This gave Pittsburgh a fresh set of downs. That's when George Pickens broke free for an incredible play down the sideline.
The only problem is that the play was blown dead too early.
Steelers fans were not happy about this, and they took to social media in swarms to share their displeasure with the officiating in the first half of Pittsburgh's Week 17 game against the Kanas City Chiefs.
Surprisingly, this isn't the only time during the 2024 season that the Steelers have had issues with forward progress calls. Earlier in the season, the refs made the opposite mistake. As running back Jaylen Warren had his momentum stalled at the goal line, a group of defenders were able to rake the ball free and create a takeaway when the play should have been ruled dead.
There's no such thing as a perfect officiating crew. But when we say we want to see players play through the whistle, this isn't what we had in mind.
In a must-have bounce-back game, the last thing we want to see is referee interference that impacts the game. Let's hope this crew can stay as hands-off as possible and allow the Steelers' offense a chance to finally heat up. So far, things have been rough.