The Pittsburgh Steelers have begun the regular season 2-0 despite a worrisome trend. They could not have begun the season better, defeating the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos.
Although they managed to beat the Broncos 13-6, the Steelers were penalized a whopping ten times in the game, tied for the most they have been flagged in a game since 2020. When you include the nine penalties the Steelers committed in Week 1, Pittsburgh has the second most penalties accepted in the league, only trailing behind the Cleveland Browns.
Penalties have been a huge issue early on for Pittsburgh. In Week 1, TJ Watt had two separate strip sacks negated due to penalties. Offensive lineman Broderick Jones was called for three penalties in a single drive in Week 2, including one play that would have resulted in a 51-yard George Pickens reception. Van Jefferson was also called for an offensive pass interference which negated a Pickens touchdown against Denver.
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin is addressing the Steelers penalty issues by reportedly bringing in practice referees for longer this week in preparation for the home opener.
“Those of you that normally follow us know that we normally bring in officials on Friday for practice,” Tomlin said during Tuesday’s press conference. “We’re bringing in officials on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday this week. I believe that’s appropriate given our last outing, in that regard of not playing penalty-free.”
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Pittsburgh is in a great position at 2-0 despite their penalty issues. The Steelers will take on the undefeated Los Angeles Chargers in their home opener this week. The Steelers will hopefully clean up their act and commit less penalties by having more officiated practices this week.
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