Madden Monday: Late flags in Steelers-Raiders were officials 'looking for a call to extend the doubt of the game'

Like a lot of people in Pittsburgh, Mark Madden wasn’t a fan of the penalty called against Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

“Very technically, that was helmet-to-helmet. Very marginally,” Madden said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “But I saw two hits on Pickett that were uncalled that were probably more worthy of punishment. As with most officiating complaints in every sport, it comes down to consistency. It’s not called all the time.”

But the call that really got Madden ticked off was the leveraging penalty assessed to DeMarvin Leal during a late Raiders field-goal attempt.

“That’s a terrible call. That’s looking for a call to extend the doubt of the game. Just like the hit by Minkah,” Madden insisted.

The kick was good anyway, but the Raiders took the points off the board and extended their drive looking for a touchdown. However, their drive stalled again, and they ended up trying another field goal anyway, which was once again successful. That made the score 23-18, which was eventually the final tally.

“I’m very rarely a conspiracy guy. But now that football, and really all of us, are in the total thrall of big-time gambling, it makes you wonder about calls like that,” Madden said.

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Regardless of the officiating, Madden said this game was a lesson for all Pittsburgh football fans about how Steelers games are going to go the rest of the season.

“One thing I feel very safe in predicting about the Steelers season, they will not have easy wins. They are just not good enough. They’re not able to pull away from teams. They really can’t run the ball. So I just think they’re going to keep every game close except when they get killed by great teams,” Madden said.

Although, with all that being considered, Madden says we should be happy with the reality of the AFC North at this point.

“Cincy doesn’t look like a great team, do they? Baltimore doesn’t look like a great team. Maybe (the Steelers) can be the last man standing,” Madden added.

And, of course, the Steelers also already have a divisional win in their back pocket with last week’s victory over the Cleveland Browns.

Also in the podcast, Madden and I discuss the Steelers’ improvements on offense, the strength of the pass rush, some issues covering wide receivers, the start of the Penguins’ preseason, and Pitt’s latest defeat.