Under Russell Wilson, the Steelers looked like an invincible team. But the Eagles had other plans for them at the Lincoln Financial Field. They soared over the Black and the Gold and defeated them 27-13. It’s not only the loss that’s shocking but the way they dominated them. The visitors could not score any points after halftime. HC Mike Tomlin was disappointed.

The unsportsmanlike penalties in the game hurt them. During the post-game conference, the HC was frustrated with those decisions and claimed that the referees didn’t even give him a sufficient explanation. He said about the reasoning, “it was not sufficient.” At the 4:03 mark in the 1st quarter, the coach had a brief discussion about the offensive penalties with the referees, after which he had an angry reaction.

Those became the talking points in the 1st quarter itself as Steelers TE Darnell Washington blocked the Eagles DB Darius Slay into the back of the end zone. A brawl started on the sidelines. But the referee only penalized the Steelers WR Calvin Austin and Washington for unnecessary roughness of 15 yards. It was dramatic. When asked about it, Mike Tomlin replied, “Not a sufficient one.” Expect some fines there in this week’s review.

Even in the 3rd quarter, at the 9:45 mark, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott scored a field goal, but the referees nullified it. At PIT 30, the refs called an unnecessary roughness penalty for 15 yards on DT Montravius Adams. At 12:27 in the 4th quarter, a penalty on Center Zach Frazier caused them to lose the yard advantage. Though the Eagles (7) had more penalties than the Steelers (5), the visitors (60) lost more yards than the home team (54). Meanwhile, referee Alan Eck explained why the Steelers were penalized and not the Eagles.

Eck was asked why two Steelers got penalized in the first quarter, in the scuffle between the Eagles and the Steelers. “Because two Steelers were observed, number 80 and number 19, committing unsportsmanlike conduct after the play was over. That’s what it was. Two players after the fact, unsportsmanlike conduct,” Eck said.

On being asked why any Eagles players weren’t flagged and if he saw any punches thrown Eck said, “No. No punches were observed on the field. 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.” Slay had a different interpretation of what transpired.

“The play was getting over with. So, I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Buddy [Washington] already 6-8 — he’s the Georgia kid that’s 270-280 — I’m like, ‘Bro, go block a D-end like that. Go block a linebacker or somebody like that. I’m a corner.’ He came out here trying to dog me into the back of the end zone. Yeah, man, I don’t play that now. I don’t get down like that.”

“I don’t bother nobody, but you ain’t gonna chump me like that, blocking me all the way into the end zone when the play’s over with, too. I understand they got a job to do, but buddy was tripping,” Slay said. Meanwhile, not only with the referees, Tomlin was also angry with his locker room after the crushing defeat.

Mike Tomlin criticizes his locker room after week 15 loss

Mike Tomlin put his O-line under the bus after the game and said, “We didn’t coach as well as we would like. We didn’t play as well as we would like. I mean, it’s just a fine line at this level. We had a penalty going in that forced us to settle for a field goal. We turned the ball over on the short field and got no points. And there were several possession downs on defense where we had opportunities to tackle ball carriers in the flat and we missed those tackles and that produced extended drives and thus points. So that’s life in our business. It’s not anything mystical. It’s very fundamental. We got to play discipline.” The coach is right there.

The team was expected to give tough competition but failed in almost every department of the game. Starting with possession, they had the ball for 20 minutes and 8 seconds compared to the Eagles’ 39 minutes and 52 seconds. They were behind in net yards with only 163 yards (56 rushing + 107 passing), while the Eagles recorded 401 yards (131 rushing + 270 passing). That’s disappointing. However, the game ended with a silver lining for them.

Steelers are in a very strong position. And Mike Tomlin knows this. They have qualified for the playoffs despite the loss. And the postseason is the most crucial part of the season. Injuries to Justin Fields and TJ Watt need to be checked carefully. Just 3 more games and they would be looking at a stretch that could make history for them. Can Russell Wilson end the 15-year drought of the Super Bowl? We’ll find out soon.