Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin could be hearing from the league office after he said he thought the officiating was “questionable” in his team’s win over the Browns Sunday.
The Steelers won, 24-9. It was unclear from Tomlin’s press conference exactly which plays he was upset about, but he did spend plenty of time talking with the officials -- sometimes more colorfully than others -- throughout the game.
“The guys just performed,” Tomlin said when asked about the officiating after the game, per the official transcript. “We were on the field more than we needed to be. I thought the officiating was questionable at times. Maybe that had something to do with it. I just thought it was questionable. I thought there were some bad calls, or no calls.”
Those are the kind of quotes that generally get the NFL’s attention -- and that can bring fines.
The Steelers were penalized eight times for 70 yards, including a 15-yarder on Lawrence Timmons for the hit that resulted in Browns quarterback Cody Kessler leaving the game with a concussion. The Browns were penalized nine times for 52 yards, and the Steelers benefited from consecutive penalties at the end of the first half when Tomlin decided to go for a touchdown despite being out of timeouts. The Steelers ended up scoring on the second untimed down.