ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — That was no fake slide Kenny Pickett attempted late in the third quarter Sunday when he tried to scramble for a first down against the Buffalo Bills.
And that was no fake hit delivered by safety Damar Hamlin, Pickett’s former teammate at Pitt.
Hamlin lowered his helmet and connected near Pickett’s head as the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback went into his slide at the end of a 10-yard run to the Buffalo 14.
Steelers guard James Daniels shoved Hamlin to the ground, drawing a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness and starting a scuffle with Bills players. Hamlin’s hit, though, went unpunished, which drew the ire of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
“I had a problem that officials didn’t have a problem (with the hit),” Tomlin said. “Not necessarily Hamlin. I love Hamlin. He’s a 412er. He plays hard. He’s a good kid. I have a problem with the fact it wasn’t officiated in the way I anticipated it being officiated.”
More on the Steelers loss to the Bills:
• Steelers’ 38-3 loss to Bills marks most lopsided defeat in Mike Tomlin era, worst since 1989
• Bills throttle Steelers in Kenny Pickett’s 1st start
• Kenny Pickett shows fight in losing 1st start with Steelers
• Steelers lose 4 starters to injury during blowout loss to Bills
Pickett hugged his former Pitt teammate before the game and said afterward that no hard feelings existed after the hit.
“I’m fine with D-Hamlin,” he said. “He’s one of my guys.”
Daniels also was surprised that he was the only one penalized on the play and insinuated that a flag would have been thrown if the quarterback in question wasn’t a rookie making his NFL debut.
“He’s our franchise quarterback,” Daniels said. “I’m shocked they didn’t throw the flag. If other quarterbacks in the NFL, if that same exact situation happened, they easily would have thrown the flag. I was upset that there was no flag on that.”
