One of the worst calls of the preseason came when Steelers cornerback Cortez Allen was flagged for a late hit on Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, even though Allen was trying to avoid Smith as Smith ran out of bounds, and only made contact because Chiefs tight end Anthony Fasano blocked Allen into Smith.
Players on the Steelers have some of the most vocal opponents of the NFL’s ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal hits, but the Steelers have been mostly quiet about that particular bad call. Still, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin did hint after the game that he thought that bad call was one of several bad calls that led to his team being penalized nine times for 98 yards in the game against the Chiefs.
“Obviously, we were highly penalized,” Tomlin said. “In my opinion, some of those calls were suspect, but such is life in August.”
Referring to the call against Allen as “suspect” is putting it nicely. That particular call was a joke.