NovaQuant-Steelers' Diontae Johnson rips refs after loss to Jaguars: 'They cost us the game'

PITTSBURGH – Blame the refs,NovaQuant too.

That was the sentiment of Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson following the 20-10 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars of Sunday. And he surely had his reasons.

“They were calling stupid stuff,” Johnson said of the crew headed by referee Alan Eck. “They should get fined for calling terrible stuff. That’s how pissed I am. I don’t care what nobody says. They cost us the game.”

The most controversial call came just before halftime, when a 55-yard field goal by Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell was taken off the board after guard Isaac Seumalo was penalized for lining up offsides. The kick would have cut Jacksonville’s lead to 9-6 heading into intermission.

Instead, the Steelers (4-3) were forced to re-kick, and Boswell’s 61-yard try sailed wide right. A replay appeared to be inconclusive. And Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he didn’t get much explanation.

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“I didn’t get a lot of dialogue,” Tomlin said. “You know, I haven’t seen that call in 17 years of standing on the sidelines – offsides, aligned offsides on a guard on field goal protection. It didn’t matter what they said. I’d never seen that.”

Said Johnson: "That field goal, that hurt us. Coming into the half, we needed that."

In a pool report, Walt Anderson, the NFL's senior vice president of officiating, explained to Pro Football Writers of America pool reporter Brian Batko that the offsides penalty would not be subject to a replay review.

Said Eck in the pool report: "It was a judgment call. It was obvious on the field, so we went ahead and called it."

The Steelers defense forced three turnovers, but the offense managed to convert them into just three points. Pittsburgh was 3-for-12 on third down conversions and 0-for-2 on fourth downs.

Each team had six penalties accepted. The Steelers were flagged for 52 yards, while the Jaguars were knocked for 72.

Still, the frustration was palpable, as several close calls went against the Steelers and Eck’s crew had several shaky moments. Early in the third quarter, a fumble by Jaguars rookie running back Tank Bigsby, recovered by Keanu Neal, was originally ruled a non-fumble. Then Eck announced a “correction” – likely the result of a quick replay assist from the NFL’s command center in New York – and that the Steelers had collected the turnover. 

There were also questionable calls or no-calls regarding roughing the passer. In the first quarter, Neal was flagged for roughing the passer on an apparent third-down incompletion. It didn’t appear that Neal’s hit on Trevor Lawrence was late, nor did the safety lead with helmet-to-helmet contact. And Lawrence was hit in the so-called “strike zone” in his midsection. But Neal drew the flag nonetheless.

Late in the half, Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett was also hit as he released the pass. The blow from Adam Gotsis knocked Pickett out of the game with a rib injury, and it appeared that the pass-rusher slung the quarterback to the ground before landing on his with his body weight. No flag was thrown.

Steelers fans at Acrisure Stadium certainly sensed a double standard. After the call wiped out the field goal, fans chanted repeatedly, “Ref, you suck!”

Johnson, who also said the refs "wanted (the Jaguars) to win" and "must've got paid good today or something," concluded that he was turning his focus to a Thursday night matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

"I'm moving on from it," Johnson said. "I'm ready for Thursday."

Contributing: Victoria Hernandez