Early on in the Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the officials got involved and it felt a lot like home cooking for the Eagles. On an early red zone play, Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones engaged with Philadelphia cornerback Darius Slay and walked him back into the stands like a scene out of The Blind Side. Slay took exception and a scrum ensued.
When the dust settled, the officials chose to throw two flags. But instead of offsetting penalties as is normally the case when both sides are throwing punches, all flags went to the Steelers. This was in spite of a clear view of multiple Eagles throwing punches.
Head coach Mike Tomlin wanted some clarification from the officials and we got to hear it straight from them on Tuesday’s episode of Hard Knocks. And spoiler alert: It’s ridiculous.
Just a ref lying to Mike Tomlin about Eagles players not throwing any punches 🤦♂️ #steelers pic.twitter.com/uKwT6gJDj6
— Matthew Luciow (@matthewluciow92) December 18, 2024
Ultimately, it’s impossible to know how much this interaction impacted the outcome of the game. The Steelers fell to the Eagles 27-13, however, the Steelers still secured a spot in the playoffs.
