The Pittsburgh Steelers shot themselves in the foot on numerous occasions during the Week 4 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, both with turnovers and penalties. However, one of those penalties should not have been called.
In the third quarter, and with the Steelers trailing 17-10, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty on a deep ball to Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
Fitzpatrick's hit was clearly a clean and legal one, yet he was still flagged for a 15-yard penalty that was very costly, as it set the Colts up with a first down in Steelers territory and eventually led to an Indianapolis touchdown drive.
🚨🚨🚨AWFUL CALL🚨🚨🚨
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 29, 2024
THE REFS CALLED A 15 YARD PENALTY ON #STEELERS DB MINKAH FITZPATRICK FOR PLAYING FOOTBAL…
He makes contact with the receiver trying to prevent a completion…
INSANE 😳😳😳
(Questionable Call: Sponsored by @LASIKdotcom)
pic.twitter.com/fyrmk24E1T
As you'd expect, Fitzpatrick did not agree with the call.
“I thought we were playing football,” he said, per Chris Adamski of TribLive.com. “This is not the game I grew up playing… you can’t hit anybody.”
Fellow safety DeShon Elliott didn't mince words about the flag.
"That was bull----. I don't care," Elliott said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "I don't care. That was BS. That was not OK. That wasn't illegal. He did nothing malicious. He didn't even hit him in the head. He hit him, led with the shoulder. If anything he let up. So I don't know what that was about."
The Steelers are no strangers to terrible officiating, as we've seen referees blow several calls against Pittsburgh over the course of the first four games of 2024.
Despite everything they had to overcome between the penalties and turnovers, the Steelers actually had a chance to tie the game on their final possession before falling short.
Pittsburgh will look to rebound in Week 5 with a matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
