A season-high eight penalties for 76 yards ultimately did not cost the Steelers in their 24-17 win over the Rams Sunday in Inglewood, Calif., but Mike Tomlin says some of those moments can be described as teachable from an in-game perspective.
This game within the game, so to speak, refers to the chess match between the teams and their coaching staffs versus the handling of how loose or tight an officiating crew might call things. Think of it in baseball terms of an umpire having a wide or narrow strike zone or a basketball referee calling some touchier fouls versus letting the players play a more aggressive style in a given game.
In Sunday's case, the tone was set for a chippy game that had the strings pulled in moments.
Tomlin got a feel for this right away when Najee Harris gained 8 yards on a reception on the Steelers' first play from scrimmage and ran over to jaw at Rams cornerback Cobie Durant for going low on the hit. It set the tone for what Harris described after the game as "bully ball," but that occurrence also put referee Craig Wrolstad and his crew on notice.
"Oftentimes, it's our job to feel the tenor of the crew and adjust our behavior accordingly," Tomlin said Tuesday on the South Side. "We got into that game and that crew had a certain tenor and we didn't adjust to it. And as professionals, that's our job. Am I worried about those issues being an issue moving forward? No, I'm not, but it is a great opportunity to talk about learning the tenor of a crew. Sometimes crews are more tolerant regarding certain things than others and that's just the realities of the National Football League."
Another example is the offsides penalty called on T.J. Watt on the Rams' second possession of the second half. That call came on a third-and-3 and renewed a first down for the Rams on their 37.
Darrell Henderson rushed for a touchdown later in that drive and a successful two-point conversion gave the Rams a 17-10 lead.
"A lot of crews will warn you when someone's lined up in the neutral zone or cutting it close from that perspective. Some don't," Tomlin said. "It's our job to get a sense of how the game is being played that day. From a holding perspective, from a (defensive pass interference) perspective, there are a lot of things that you could discuss that regard having a feel for the tenor of a crew. The worst thing we did in that game is we didn't have a sense of tenor, and we didn't adjust. Najee had a post-snap confrontation early in the game where he was jawing back-and-forth with a member of their defense, and the crew expressed their tenor at the time. As a collective, we didn't do a good enough job -- I didn't do a good enough job as a leader -- of making sure that we adjusted. That's why some of the penalties were as they were."
The two greatest examples of this "tenor" came as a result of a pair of 15-yard penalties gathered by George Pickens. He was flagged for an illegal blind-side block on a catch-and-run from Diontae Johnson that turned a first-and-goal situation into a third-and-17 from the Rams' 35-yard line. The Steelers settled on a Chris Boswell field goal two plays later.
Tomlin tried to mitigate this and communicate the "tenor" to his players as early as possible on Sunday. The Fox broadcast caught this shot of Tomlin with his arms around Johnson and Pickens toward the end of the first quarter, right after Pickens committed the blind-side block penalty:
FOX
Mike Tomlin speaks with Diontae Johnson and George Pickens during Sunday's game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Early in the fourth quarter, Pickens was flagged for taunting Rams safety Russ Yeast after his 18-yard reception, which put the Steelers on their own 23 instead of their own 38. That penalty ultimately didn't cost the Steelers in the long run as Harris punched in a three-yard touchdown on the 10th play of that drive to put the Steelers ahead 24-17.
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 23, 2023
Pickens wasn't shy to admit the Rams got under his skin a bit.
"A game like this showed me they're kinda looking for me," Pickens said after the game. "Guys are antagonizing me more. Today's the first day I've really seen anything like that, guys really trying to get me out of the game or get under my skin deliberately. All I can really say is, just keep fighting hard."
Johnson drew a flag for taunting former Steelers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon with a shush-ing gesture after Witherspoon committed a defensive pass interference penalty on a third-and-8 on the Steelers' final possession of the game. That would have resulted in an automatic first down prior to the two-minute warning, but the Steelers had to get a first-down push from Kenny Pickett -- and a generous spot from the officials to go with it -- to ultimately seal the game a couple of plays later.
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 23, 2023
Some gamesmanship is involved in this as Johnson and Witherspoon are former teammates, but that doesn't excuse the infraction in the moment.
"It’s just something I’ve got to avoid," Johnson said after the game. "In the moment I thought I didn’t really do anything, but I kind of went like this to him, to Ahkello. We’re cool, but the refs wouldn’t know, so that’s something we have to avoid.”
Tomlin was near Johnson but didn't have sight of him when the foul occurred. Tomlin said he didn't get a thorough explanation of why it was not considered a dead-ball foul from Wrolstad, but one of the other officials said it was a "continual act" of the conclusion of the play.
