The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2024 NFL season. Pittsburgh is 10-4 after a tough loss against Philadelphia on Sunday. To add insult to injury, the game featured a sequence that was incorrectly called against the Steelers.

One controversial sequence was not called correctly by officials. The Eagles and Steelers got into a scuffle during the first quarter after Darnell Washington blocked Darius Slay into a wall. This caused a fight to break out involving multiple players. Unfortunately, the flags thrown by the referees only targeted the Steelers.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that the explanation for why two Steelers players, but no Eagles player, were penalized “wasn't sufficient.” The main piece of evidence was a pool report from the referees that stated that no punches were observed during the melee.

Unfortunately this version of events clashes with reality. One recent video shows that multiple punches were thrown by Eagles players during the skirmish.

“No punches were observed on the field,” referee Alan Eck said in the pool report, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. “Since we had flags down, it gave New York an opportunity to review the play as well. There was no video evidence of punches observed by the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Steelers WR Calvin Austin opens up about his unsportsmanlike penalty

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III (19) celebrates a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
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One player who was involved in the fight shared his perspective on the situation after the game.

Steelers WR Calvin Austin entered the melee to defend his teammate Darnell Washington.

“If I see plenty of Eagles come up and surround [Darnell], like, yeah, I'm going to come in and help my dog, but I guess being the biggest guy out there, I'm going to get flagged.”

It is easy to understand Austin's perspective here.

Sunday was not all bad news for the Steelers. Pittsburgh clinched a playoff berth, but they are still competing with the Ravens for the AFC North crown. This puts extra pressure on the Steelers over the next three games.

Next up for the Steelers is a Week 16 matchup against the Ravens.