Steelers seek more discipline after 10 penalties in win
Players on the Pittsburgh Steelers defense can feel good about stopping 10 of the Denver Broncos’ 15 third-down conversion attempts Sunday.
But imagine how they’d feel if 60% of Denver’s third-down conversions weren’t handed to them by way of Steelers penalties.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Steelers in regards to flags, albeit one that can be forgiven because of a 26-21 home-opening win.
“We were highly penalized,” coach Mike Tomlin said.
“It was an Achilles heel for us today.”
The Steelers were penalized four times for defensive pass interference, twice for holding on offense, twice on personal fouls (roughing the passer and a horse-collar tackle), once for delay of game and once for an illegal block.
The penalties netted Denver 89 yards, but they collectively did more damage. The drive-extending infractions by the defense on third downs were joined by 15 yards for roughing the passer that helped lead to the Broncos’ first touchdown, an Eric Ebron holding call that killed a promising second-quarter possession and a Cameron Sutton block in the back that negated a Diontae Johnson punt-return touchdown.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined,” outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. “We’re very fast. We’re very technical, but at times, we’ve got to be me more disciplined to limit those penalties.”
Only twice over their previous 30 games had the Steelers been penalized more often.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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