Mike Tomlin, Gene Steratore weigh in on legality of play that injured Steelers QB Kenny Pickett

Once it was clear that Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett was injured during a sack from Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith on Sunday afternoon, the inevitable Twitter-victimizing began.

“Why wasn’t that a penalty? Aren’t they supposed to be protecting the quarterbacks? I’ve seen hits less forceful than that get flags! He’s just not getting calls because he’s a rookie!”

I still don’t get roughing the passer. Kenny Pickett just got slammed to ground on that sack and nothing

— Rocco Badnelle (@BadnelleMedia) December 11, 2022

No call here? https://t.co/XZgQ3IRqZ2

— Steelers Now (@PghSteelersNow) December 11, 2022

ok kenny pickett got german suplexed into the turf, no flag. he got rocked. we live in a wwe ref world. whatever fits the game.

— Brian (@brianisgraphic) December 12, 2022

@NFLOfficiating can you explain how Kenny Pickett was slammed , and now out with concussion and no flag? Even with a ref standing right there?

— Scott Roberts (@Rx4Pain) December 11, 2022

@NFL How can the face mask / body slam on Kenny Pickett not be a penalty? This non-call is a travesty and can't go without punishment.

— Timothy Pieples (@tpieples) December 12, 2022

Things only got worse online Sunday night when a terrible roughing-the-passer call was assessed against Miami Dolphins pass rusher Jaelan Phillips. It appeared he completed a perfectly clean sack of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and got flagged anyway.

If this is roughing the passer, then the Roquan Smith on Kenny Pickett throw down was roughing too. The inconsistency with this call has been alarming pic.twitter.com/nhjdCG1j9k

— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) December 12, 2022

Kenny Pickett at home watching Justin Herbert get roughing the passer #steelers #chargers pic.twitter.com/uVmsBg3qDd

— Sad Pittsburgh Fan (@GreensMeme) December 12, 2022

So... this is roughing the passer, but the tackle that sidelined Kenny Pickett wasn't? OK lol https://t.co/myw0pjBzTA

— Tommy Jaggi (@TommyJaggi) December 12, 2022

Kenny Pickett was sacked in a way he has to get out of the game because of concussion protocol but there wasn’t a roughing the passer penalty CAN @NFLOfficiating EXPLAIN HOW JEALEN PHILLIPS SACK WAS ROUGHING THE PASSER

— ADolphinsFan (@LetsGoFinsUp) December 12, 2022

Neither hit should’ve been roughing the passer in my opinion. It’s just that the threshold for what does qualify as roughing the passer has become so low that it has blurred our level of tolerance. That’s certainly true for NFL officiating crews, most of whom seem more concerned about protecting their own backsides from negative league reviews than genuinely protecting the safety of the players.

Because they have gotten to the point now where — as in the case of the Phillips incident or flags thrown after hits on Derek Carr and Tom Brady earlier in the year — penalties were called when the quarterback was not even close to being in harm’s way and the defenders were using perfectly legal technique in attempts to finish their plays.

More sports

• Steelers coach Mike Tomlin: Kenny Pickett will start at Carolina if cleared from concussion protocol
• Tim Benz: Ben Roethlisberger hits the mark when discussing lack of crackle in Sunday's Steelers-Ravens game
• Penguins place Jeff Petry on long-term injured reserve, recall Mark Friedman, Drew O'Connor

During a Tuesday morning appearance on WDVE, CBS rules analyst and former NFL official Gene Steratore agreed, calling the Dolphins-Chargers play “a head scratcher.”

“We are protecting quarterbacks for the right reasons. But within that window you have to still watch the play and rule it correctly. And, in this case, I thought it was over-protection again,” Steratore said.

Amen, Gene.

I will say, though, the inconsistency is maddening. Also, a facemask by Smith was missed on the Pickett sack.

Obviously Smith grabbed Pickett’s face mask, slammed Kenny into the ground and as the video shows, still had a hold of the face mask when Kenny was on the ground.

No penalty.#Steelers #Ravens #NFL pic.twitter.com/6xfriNRXYj

— Obviously (Not) Tomlin (@Tomlin_Sense) December 11, 2022

That should’ve been called, although that was a less than conventional facemask grab and at a strange angle. So I understand why the flag wasn’t thrown.

In fact, when I asked Steelers coach Mike Tomlin about the play on Tuesday, he didn’t raise a complaint about either roughing the passer or a facemask. It’s just that, in my view, if we are going to scream bloody murder on behalf of Pickett, let’s at least be mad about the right thing.

My biggest gripe is that I don’t want to live in a world where I see that hit by Smith — or the one later in the game by Minkah Fitzpatrick on Tyler Huntley — and yell, “Penalty! That should be a penalty!”

I despise the fact that has become the first reaction for many of us watching the NFL these days. “Give him 15 yards for … um … hitting too hard! Personal foul for impolite tackling.”

I hate that I watch football and have to think that nowadays. The pendulum has swung too far the other way when it comes to attempting to protect quarterbacks. Let’s be honest. If T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith had gotten flagged for a roughing-the-passer call of Huntley on a play akin to Smith’s on Pickett (aside from the facemask aspect), all of Pittsburgh would’ve gone ballistic.

Instead of “Where’s the flag for Kenny?”, if Watt had done the same thing to Huntley, it would’ve been, “What is this, two-hand touch!? Jack Lambert was right! When are yinz gonna put dresses on ‘em quarterbacks n’at?”

Since I brought him up, is Lambert available this weekend? Based on how the rush defense looked against Baltimore, the Steelers sure could use him against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.