Monday’s “First Call” gives us some grousing from the Dallas Cowboys after their loss to the Steelers. The officials made some close calls against them, and they aren’t happy about it.
We also check in on the Steelers’ next opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals. We get an update on Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield in covid-19 protocol, too.
And Antonio Brown had his debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It wasn’t exactly memorable. But it did have one classic A.B. moment.
Cryin’ Cowboys
The Cowboys were unhappy with the officiating in their 24-19 loss to the Steelers.
Specifically, two penalties absorbed in the fourth quarter by linebacker Jaylon Smith.
Via ESPN.com’s Todd Archer, “Jaylon Smith had two costly fourth-quarter penalties on the Steelers’ final two scoring drives. On the illegal contact on Chase Claypool, ‘really he just ran into me,’ Smith said. On the roughing the passer penalty on Ben Roethlisberger, his arm hit the quarterback in the helmet. ‘I was just trying to pressure the quarterback and press the pocket, put my hands up when the ball was coming out and that’s what it was.’”
The penalty for hitting Roethlisberger in the face wiped out what would’ve been a fumble by the Steelers quarterback. Later in the game, Steelers linebacker T.J.Watt had a similar — but less obvious— version of that penalty that wasn’t called.
You can see Smith’s entire explanation here. And his teammate DeMarcus Lawrence is also disgruntled about it.
DeMarcus Lawrence on the Jaylon Smith penalty: The frustrating part is it wasn’t in our control. I’m not the one to complain. That was total BS on that last call. So hopefully the NFL can take that into account and we’ll get better from it.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) November 9, 2020
Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch got called for shoving running back Anthony McFarland in the facemask. “I hit him in the face mask on accident. It was stupid. If the refs would’ve seen it, I think they could’ve seen it on replay, and I don’t know. It’s ridiculous. It (ticked) me off.”
The 15-yard infraction helped advance a drive that led to a Chris Boswell field goal to pull the Steelers within one point at 19-18. In all, the Steelers only were penalized three times, while the Cowboys racked up seven flags for 70 yards.
It certainly appears FS1 host Skip Bayless disagreed with the officiaing, too.
THE STEELERS DON’T DESERVE TO WIN THIS GAME. JUST MAKES ME WANT TO VOMIT.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 9, 2020
YEAH, CELEBRATE, STEELERS. YOU SHOULD BE HUGGING THE REFS.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 9, 2020
Great job, Dallas defense. You played well enough to pull off this upset. But it’s virtually impossible to beat two teams – one undefeated and one throwing flags.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 9, 2020
Although Steelers fans will likely argue that Chase Claypool was the victim of multiple pass interference calls that were not made and Watt should’ve been the beneficiary of few holding calls that never happened.
Disappointing debut
Antonio Brown’s first game as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer left a lot to be desired.
The team got smoked at home by the division rival New Orleans Saints 38-3. And the former Steelers star receiver had just three catches for 31 yards.
But one of them was a classic A.B. kind of moment. He made a nice snag on the move on a slightly high throw from quarterback Tom Brady. The conversion moved the sticks. And Brown did his usual, point-for-a-first-down-and-drop-the-ball routine.
With much emphasis.
All while trailing 31-0 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.
I am not sure if Brown is truly back to his old form yet. But Mr. Big Chest is.
“Ronald” finished with 39 snaps.
Rested Bengals
The Bengals don’t get a win very often. But this time, they had some extra time to enjoy one.
The Steelers’ next opponent had Sunday off for their bye week after a 31-20 upset victory over the Titans.
And Pittsburgh is going to have to prepare for rising rookie quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals’ top overall draft choice has thrown for 655 yards in Cincy’s last two games. He has six total touchdowns (five passing, one rushing) as opposed to just one interception over that stretch.
But he has been sacked 28 times. The Philadelphia Eagles are the only team to have allowed their quarterback to be dropped more often (32).
Meanwhile, the Steelers’ 32 sacks on defense lead the NFL.
After playing the Steelers, the Bengals (2-5-1) get two struggling teams from the NFC East. They visit Washington (2-6) and host the New York Giants (2-7).
Baker back?
The Cleveland Browns (5-3) are coming off their bye, too. They now host the Houston Texans (2-6) this week.
The looming question in Cleveland is if quarterback Baker Mayfield will be ready to play. He was put on the reserve covid-19 list Saturday.
Via NFL.com, the Browns said they learned Saturday that a staff member tested positive. Therefore, close contacts were immediately self-isolated following contact tracing. As a close contact, Mayfield must self-isolate for five days.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Mayfield could be cleared to return to football as early as Wednesday.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
