Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is calling out NFL officiating. The Baltimore Ravens are telling Diontae Johnson to stay home.

The Penguins will face stiff competition Tuesday night. And Duquesne star Megan McConnell is getting honored.

All that in “First Call” Tuesday.

‘V’ for ‘Vendetta’

It’s certainly not for “victory.” At least not when we are talking about the Steelers playing in Philadelphia, anyway.

After their 27-13 loss to the Eagles out there Sunday, the Steelers have still failed to win in the City of Brotherly Love since 1965. 

One thing that went wrong during the game was that tight end Darnell Washington ended up blocking Eagles defensive back Darius Slay through the back of the Eagles’ end zone during a short pass completion to Najee Harris. He got a personal foul penalty for doing so.

A fracas followed. Multiple Eagles were filmed throwing punches. None of them were called for a penalty. Yet Calvin Austin got an additional flag against the Steelers for unnecessary roughness. Austin’s penalty was accepted. Washington’s was declined.

The NFL on CBS’ Instagram account posted a video of the play with Eagles players clearly throwing haymakers.

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A post shared by NFL on CBS (@nfloncbs)

Injured Steelers receiver George Pickens replied.

“But we got flagged. But yall don’t think it’s a vendetta against the Steelers,” Pickens wrote, adding a puking emoji.

That’s not the first time Pickens accused the NFL of a vendetta. He did so during a Thursday night game back in Week 9 when New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson was granted a touchdown on a great catch. But Pickens had a touchdown overruled a few days earlier on “Monday Night Football” as the Steelers were beating the New York Giants.

George Pickens on IG after that Wilson TD pic.twitter.com/YsoBCAucDp

— morgan ???? (@tokyoXmo) November 1, 2024

Pickens has been fined this year for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in Cincinnati, and for explicit messages on his eyeblack against Dallas. Pickens didn’t play against the Eagles last week because of a hamstring injury. He’s a question mark for this week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens too.

Go away, D.J.

The Ravens are telling Dionate Johnson to just go away.

The ex-Steelers receiver will not be on the field when his former team comes to Baltimore on Saturday. He has been dismissed from football activities this week.

Statement from the Baltimore Ravens. pic.twitter.com/sg9seXfJMc

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 16, 2024

Johnson has barely played for the Ravens since being acquired from the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 29. His relationship with the team got bad enough that, on Dec. 4, Johnson was suspended for one game after he refused to enter a Week 13 loss against the Eagles.

Via ESPN.com, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked Monday if he foresees Johnson coming back to the team next week.

“What I foresee, really, to be honest with you, and all I’m really thinking about right now is Pittsburgh and getting our team ready for Pittsburgh,” Harbaugh replied. “So, he won’t be here this week, and next week will take care of itself.”

Johnson was the Panthers’ leading receiver at the time of his trade to Baltimore. He totaled 30 catches, 357 yards and three touchdowns. He has only one catch for 6 yards with Baltimore.

The Steelers got starting cornerback Donte Jackson in exchange for Johnson when his initial trade to Charlotte was agreed upon in March.

King me

Two of the hottest teams in the NHL are in the Pacific Division. The Edmonton Oilers have won five in a row and eight of their last nine. They are in third place with 38 points.

The Los Angeles Kings are in second place after winning seven of eight. They are in second place with 39 points and will be the Penguins’ opponent Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Three goalies — David Rittich, Darcy Kuemper and Erik Portillo — have all won games during that stretch. In all eight of those games, the Kings’ opponents failed to score more than three goals. In fact, the Kings have allowed just 1.50 goals per game over the eight-game stretch.

Los Angeles currently leads the NHL in goals against per game at 2.50. The Penguins are 31st at 3.72.

One area where the Kings struggle, though, is on the power play. They are clicking at only 15.9%, 28th in the NHL. Anze Kopitar is the top point producer for the Kings with 34 (eight goals, 24 assists). Adrian Kempe has 15 goals to lead the team in that category.

The Penguins have dropped three of their last five games after winning four in a row. After this game, they visit Nashville on Thursday and New Jersey on Saturday. Their 31 points are one off the pace for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, currently held by Ottawa with 32.

The Pens will visit L.A. on Jan. 20 for the return game. They won a 4-3 overtime game there last year, while the Kings won in Pittsburgh, 2-1, after Jaromir Jagr had his jersey retired.

A moment for Meg

Duquesne guard Megan McConnell is the Atlantic 10 player of the week. That should come as no surprise, given her standout performance over two games against Bucknell and Canisius.

Look at these stats ????

24.0 points, 6.5 steals, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and a 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio while shooting .600 percent from the field and .467 percent from behind the arc @megg_mcconnell4 of @DuqWBB is your #A10WBB Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/gCA96XIGmZ

— Atlantic 10 WBB (@A10WBB) December 16, 2024

Both of those games were victories for the Dukes. They are now 8-2.

Against Canisius on Sunday, the Chartiers Valley product posted a career-high 35 points on 14-of-21 shooting from the floor while tying her career-best with five 3-pointers. She also set a personal best with nine steals, tying for the third-most in program history. McConnell added six assists and grabbed four rebounds.

This is the third time McConnell has won the award. Up next, Bowling Green (5-4) is in town. That’s at noon Saturday before the men’s team (3-8) hosts U.C Irvine (9-1).

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