Written By Allen Sharp
October 30th, 2023
The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their third loss of the season on Sunday as they were defeated by the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-10 at Acrisure Stadium. The game was marred by several questionable calls by the referees, which angered the Steelers players and fans.
Early in the first half, Pittsburgh's Keanu Neal was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty on a 3rd and 10 completion from Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence to WR Christian Kirk. The tackle in question was just that, an NFL tackle. As Lawrence was throwing the ball, Neal wrapped Lawrence up with his shoulder against his stomach and his head to the left of Lawrence's hip. As Lawrence fell to the ground, Neal made an effort to land with his knees and pull up from landing his full weight onto Lawrence. This legal tackle gifted the Jaguars with an additional 15 yards on the play.
Later in the first half, after Steelers QB Kenny Pickett got rid of the football, Jaguars DE Adam Gotsis aggressively tackled the Steelers QB. There was no flag on the play, a play where after Pickett threw the ball, Gotsis took multiple steps, wrapped Pickett around his torso, and drove Pickett into the Acrisure dirt with his full body weight. The play removed Pickett from the game with a rib injury.
The Steelers trailed 9-3 at halftime after a field goal by Chris Boswell and three field goals by Brandon McManus. Going into the half, the Steelers had a field goal nullified by a phantom offensive offsides penalty. The next attempt by Boswell was missed. Further review of the play reveals that not a single Steelers lineman was offside, and there was actually a member of Jacksonville that lined up offsides.
The Jaguars extended their lead to 17-3 in the third quarter when Trevor Lawrence connected with running back Travis Etienne for a 56-yard touchdown pass. The Steelers responded with a touchdown of their own as backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who replaced the now-injured Kenny Pickett in the second quarter, found wide receiver George Pickens for a 22-yard score.
The Jaguars sealed the win with another field goal by McManus, making it 20-10 with just over 4 minutes left in the game. The Steelers could not mount a comeback as Trubisky was picked off on a Hail Mary attempt as time expired.
After the game Steelers WR Diontae Johnson had this to say about the referees performance on Sunday:
The Jaguars improved to 6-2 and maintained their lead in the AFC South, while the Steelers dropped to 4-3 and fell behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. The Steelers will try to bounce back on Thursday night when they host the Tennessee Titans at Acrisure Stadium.