Joe Haden sends message about controversial offsides call
Joe Haden did not speak with the media after his Pittsburgh Steelers lost 27-17 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. But he did share one message on Twitter.
Haden had three simple words to say:
I wasn’t offsides.
— Joe Haden (@joehaden23) October 4, 2021
“I wasn’t offsides.”
Haden is referring to a penalty he was called for on a field goal block before halftime. The Packers had a 4th-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 13 with around 20 seconds left in the half. Haden and Minkah Fitzpatrick both got great jumps on the snap and came in to block the kick attempt:
Finally seen multiple replays. The one below's the most conclusive that Joe Haden was NOT offside. He and Minkah Fitzpatrick both had great jumps, which can be visually misleading, but watch the snap of the ball:pic.twitter.com/mUBnhNhpYR
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) October 3, 2021
The replay appeared to show that both Steelers defenders timed their jump perfectly and were not offsides. Pittsburgh should have been credited with a field goal block that was returned for a touchdown to make it 17-14. Instead, the Packers got another chance to kick and made a 26-yard field goal to make the score 17-10.
Pittsburgh got hosed on the call and Haden knows it. CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore felt the officials missed the call.
Certain infractions are easier to see from the field-level, but from the angles that I've seen of the field goal in #PITvsGB:
Unless the @Steelers were lined up in the neutral zone, the players move simultaneously with the snap which would mean no foul. pic.twitter.com/EBOvmtiPuB
— Gene Steratore (@GeneSteratore) October 3, 2021
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin did not want to comment on the matter.
“You hear things about what was said on television and all of that,” Tomlin said after the game. “I didn’t have the line of scrimmage, so I’d just be speculating and giving you some hearsay.”
Even if Tomlin didn’t comment one way or another, we know they got hosed by a bad offsides call. That was a game-changer in a game that finished 27-17.
Somewhat unbelievably, the official in this game was Scott Novak, who oversaw this big blunder from Week 3.