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Wide receiver Diontae Johnson of the Pittsburgh Steelers was in a foul mood after losing 20-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8. During his postgame interview with the media, he placed a lot of the blame for the loss on the NFL officiating.
At various times when speaking about the penalties and non-calls from the game, Johnson implied the officials received money for their rulings and that the result was rigged.
“They must’ve got paid good today or something,” Johnson told reporters on October 29 when speaking about the officials. “That field goal, that hurt us coming into the half. We needed that.”
“They were calling some stupid stuff. They should get fined for making bad, worst terrible calls and stuff like that.”
Johnson also flat-out stated that the officiating was the reason the Steelers didn’t win.
“That’s how p***** I am because they cost us the game. I don’t care what no one says, they cost us the game.”
Diontae Johnson Says NFL Officials ‘Wanted’ Jaguars to Win in Week 8
In his rant against the Week 8 officiating, Johnson brought up an interesting point. Not all NFL officials are publicly held accountable after a bad game. They don’t face media scrutiny in interviews like players are, and they aren’t docked any money for poor performance.
The NFL fined Johnson $10,927 for the taunting penalty he committed on October 22 against the Los Angeles Rams. The NFL didn’t announce that punishment until the day prior to the Steelers facing the Jaguars.
The frustration of almost losing $11,000 was probably still fresh in his mind during his rant about the Week 8 officials.
But the rest of Johnson’s rant was hardly insightful. It felt more like sour grapes after a difficult home loss that saw the Steelers fail to reach the 200-yard mark on offense until late in the fourth quarter.
“They wanted them to win,” Johnson said in response to a question about no penalty called on a hit against quarterback Kenny Pickett. “Everything was in their favor. They were getting every little call.”
Johnson did admit that he could have made more plays. Specifically, Johnson failed to secure a high, but still decent pass from Pickett on the very first play of the game. If caught, the play would have been a big gain for the Steelers.
After missing on that reception, the Steelers went three-and-out on each of their first four possessions.
But Johnson seemed to take some consolation in leading the team with 8 receptions and 85 receiving yards.
“Yeah, I need to make those two plays, those catches, whatever,” Johnson told reporters. “But that don’t define me the whole game.”
The problem with Johnson’s logic, though, is he’s allowing himself one or two bad plays but not the officials.
Johnson’s missed catch to begin the game or his slip on a target in the end zone during the second quarter had just as big of an impact on the game as any of the calls from the officials.
Johnson Says He’s Moving on to Week 9 Matchup With Tennessee Titans
The other insincere part about Johnson’s rant on the officiating is he appeared to try to end his tirade a couple times. But then kept going.
“The refs were killing us the whole game,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it’s not on them. We can’t keep complaining about the refs. Coach T says we can’t worry about the refs. Whatever.
“But everybody is different. I didn’t like the refs today.”
Johnson did finally conclude his rant with a couple clichés that would make head coach Mike Tomlin proud.
“But it is what it is. I’m moving on from it. I’m ready for Thursday.”
The Steelers will have to forget about the officiating from Week 8 quickly to prepare for their next matchup. The Tennessee Titans will visit Pittsburgh on Thursday, November 2.
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