The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t happy with the officials after losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday for several calls. One of those calls upset kicker Chris Boswell so much that he took to Instagram where he seemingly took a shot at the officials on Instagram.
The play came right before the half. On a long field goal, which Boswell made, a flag came out for a Pittsburgh offensive lineman being lined up in the neutral zone. However, it was close and the Steelers disagreed. Boswell then missed the longer kick because of the penalty.
He, later, posted a picture to his Instagram story with the line of scrimmage drawn to show a Jaguars player offsides and all the Steelers onside. On top of that, he added laughing emojis, trying to make his thoughts on the call clear.
There are a few problems with what Boswell posted, including that still images before the snap don’t necessarily prove what was true once the ball was snapped. At the same time, on a call that looked close live, it’s easy to see why the Steelers weren’t happy with the call.
The Jaguars won the game 20-10, and had the field goal counted it would have been a one-score game at the end, potentially changing how the game was coached by both sides.
Chris Boswell wasn’t the only Steeler mad about the officiating, though. After the game, wide receiver Diontae Johnson made his feelings about the game known and put himself at risk of getting a fine in the process.
“They cost us the game. They wanted them to win, they was calling, everything was in their favor. They were getting every little call. But it is what it is,” Johnson said.
“They must have got paid good today, or something, but that field goal, that hurt us. Coming into the half, we needed that. That field goal hurt us. They was calling some stupid stuff. They should get fined for calling that, for making worse, terrible calls, stuff like that. That’s how pi--ed I am.”
Fines will likely be coming for the Steelers players openly critical of the officiating. However, the NFL probably won’t be fining the officials for questionable calls.
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett’s status ‘up in the air’ for Thursday Night Football
Another call just before halftime that the Steelers weren’t happy about was the hit that quarterback Kenny Pickett took that knocked him out of the game. Some felt that it should be a roughing the passer that wasn’t called, setting up that long field goal attempt that Chris Boswell ultimately missed.
Now, it’s being reported that Pickett’s status is up in the air for Thursday Night Football.
Kenny Pickett has a rib injury and could miss an important game for Pittsburgh against the Tennessee Titans. If he can’t go, Mitch Trubisky will start in his place.
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