The poor officiating from the Bears’ loss to the Steelers on Monday Night Football has been a hot topic of conversation among the NFL.
There were several bad calls that went against Chicago. But the most-discussed has been a questionable taunting call on Bears outside linebacker Cassius Marsh, which resulted in a Steelers field goal in what was an eventual two-point win.
Tony Corrente, who appeared to hip check Marsh before throwing the flag for taunting, said that “taunting is a point of emphasis this year,” an indication that NFL Officiating wants referees to throw the flag on anything they believe is taunting. It appears to be a judgement call as evidenced by Corrente saying, “I felt he was taunting them.”
NFL SVP of Officiating Perry Fewell addressed the questionable taunting call, and it wasn’t a surprise that he backed Corrente’s call, especially given it sounds like taunting is something officials want called this season.
“He takes several steps towards the Pittsburgh bench, posturing towards their sideline,” Fewell said.
NFL SVP of Officiating Perry Fewell on the Cassius Marsh taunting penalty from Monday night: “He takes several steps towards the Pittsburgh bench, posturing towards their sideline.”
Once again, the league isn’t backing off the emphasis on taunting.pic.twitter.com/QzH6fl02XK
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 10, 2021
This isn’t the first time the NFL has backed Corrente on the taunting call.
“The call was the definition of taunting, with the player gesturing toward the sideline and opponent,” a source told The Washington Post‘s Mark Maske.
While Marsh shouldn’t have been walking toward the Steelers sideline, this whole “gesturing” thing is getting a little out of hand. Especially given Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt blew kisses in the direction of the Bears sideline after sacking quarterback Justin Fields and wasn’t flagged for taunting.
Like Fields said after the game, it’s about fairness with penalties, and the officiating was one-sided in the most obvious of ways.
At this point, it doesn’t seem like the NFL is going to admit they made a mistake with the questionable taunting call. But there are several other penalties, including the phantom low block on James Daniels that negated a touchdown and no-call roughing the passer on Fields, that they should still answer for.
