The Pittsburgh Steelers did not play their best game of the season in Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, and head coach Mike Tomlin feels the officiating was partially to blame for that.
Following his team’s 24-9 victory, Tomlin criticized some of the calls that were made and others that weren’t.
“We were on the field more than we needed to be,” he said, per Ryan Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I thought the officiating was questionable at times. Maybe that had something to do with it. I just thought it was questionable. I thought there were some bad calls, or some no calls.”
The Steelers were penalized eight times for 70 yards, and some of those flags kept Cleveland in the game. Tomlin did not say specifically which calls upset him, but Fittipaldo notes that the coach was unhappy with a roughing the passer call against Lawrence Timmons in the third quarter. Timmons was called for a blow to the head of Browns quarterback Cody Kessler, but replays show Kessler’s head hit the turf when Ryan Shazier dragged him down.
Kessler suffered his second concussion of the season on the hit and may be shut down because of it. You can see a video of the play here.
“I did miss him,” Timmons said of the call. “He saw me coming as Shay was pulling him down. I went right over top of him.”
Tomlin will certainly take the win, but it’s rare to hear a coach criticize an officiating crew when the game ultimately went his way. Don’t be surprised if the comments result in a fine from the league.
