Monday night's game in Tampa took the Steelers and Buccaneers three hours and 19 minutes to complete.
That made the Steelers' 30-27 win their shortest game of the season. And to hear Mike Tomlin talk about it on Tuesday, it was unwatchable. He would know. He watched it from the sideline, but he wonders what it was like for the millions tuning in.
"That probably wasn't a fun game to watch," he said.
There were 22 combined penalties called, 13 of them -- for 155 yards -- against the Steelers.
Now, Tomlin wasn't complaining about the imbalance or any particular call, though there's plenty to quibble about, but rather the sheer volume of yellow flags that were being thrown around Raymond James Stadium and every other stadium throughout the NFL in the first three weeks.
He says he is not speaking out as a coach or as a member of the league's prestigious competition committee but as a fan of the game, and someone who lives and breathes the sport.
"As someone who appreciates the game and understands that we're in the sport and entertainment business, it's worrisome from the fan perspective," he said. "I do worry about what it's like to watch that game from home with penalties being administered at the rate they were."
Most worrisome, though, is the roughing the passer calls and the league's strict enforcement of it.
There have been 34 called through the season's first three weeks compared to just 16 over the same span a year ago. Green Bay's Clay Matthews has been flagged three times for it:
This is a foul for roughing the passer - the defender lands “with all or most of the defender’s weight” on the passer. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9(b): https://t.co/s9YKN8NLuT #GBvsWAS pic.twitter.com/ei2QZkvvzx
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) September 23, 2018
According to Miami coach Adam Gase, Dolphins defensive end William Hayes suffered a season-ending torn ACL while trying to avoid putting his full "body weight" on Oakland QB Derek Carr:
Here’s the video of William Hayes tearing his ACL. If you look at his last two steps, it does look like he shortens his last (right) step and tries to roll over Carr instead of landing firmly on him. pic.twitter.com/bi32c35r7o
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) September 24, 2018
The four roughing-the-passers called in Monday night's game in Tampa -- two each against the Steelers and Buccaneers -- were tied for the most in a single game dating back to 2001. That doesn't even include the flag that was thrown on Cam Heyward but later picked up.
The competition committee will reportedly hold a conference call next week. It's not expected that they will suggest a change to the rule itself, but how it should be enforced. Tomlin declined to talk about what might come out of that call but he sounded a bit surprised it's been enforced as strictly at is.
"I don't think you ever have a feeling of what it is until it plays itself out inside stadiums," he said. "The application is just as significant as the rule itself.
"I'm learning, like we're all learning, what it means."
Regardless of whether it's roughing the passer or offsides, the Steelers have to limit the penalties they are taking, according to Tomlin.
They are the NFL's most-penalized team, averaging 12.3 calls per game through Week 3. Buffalo is the second-most penalized team at 9.3. In total, the Steelers have been penalized for 361 yards, 95 more than the next team, Philadelphia.
"I understand it was an emotional game, a big game, primetime for us, responding from a negative performance, so I understand the emotions in it but, boy, do we have to play cleaner than we did last night. We played hard but we've got to play cleaner. We've got to play smarter."
During his weekly radio show on KDKA-FM earlier on Tuesday, Ben Roethlisberger said that he can live with aggressive in-play penalties but is frustrated by the pre- and post-snap penalties that his team has been taking. Late in the fourth quarter, veteran Darrius Hewyard-Bey took a near-disastrous unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty
"I have always heard that 100 yards in a football game is seven points and 50 yards is three points," the quarterback said. "That's 10 points that we gave up in penalties. That's crazy."
• Tomlin is well aware of the trade rumors surrounding Le'Veon Bell. You know the ones. However ...
"I'm not talking Le'Veon. I'm just not," he said. "There's nothing new to add."
So there you go.
• The right cornerback position has seen "unsteady times," according to Tomlin.
The DBs lining up opposite Joe Haden on Monday included Coty Sensabaugh, the journeyman who started the game, Artie Burns, the former first-round pick who is supposed to be the starter, and Cameron Sutton, a third-round pick a year ago.
All three played in a rotation with varying degrees of success and failure. Sensabaugh played 49 snaps (66 percent), while Burns played 25 (34 percent) and Sutton 20 (27 percent).
Tomlin said you can expect to see a similar arrangement Sunday night when the Steelers host Baltimore.
"We've been playing them all but we've given up some balls down the grass, and really just about in every instance," he said. "We'll continue to play all three of those guys. All three of these guys work hard and put themselves in positions to make plays, but they're not making enough of them. Until we get that, the rotation will continue."
Tomlin did not say how he plans to divvy up the reps.
"We'll play it be ear," he said. "I'm not going to box myself in."
• According to Tomlin, Mike Hilton's elbow was still being evaluated on Tuesday. The nickelback told reporters after Monday's game that he hyperextended it. In other injury news, Morgan Burnett, Marcus Gilbert and David DeCastro will have a "legitimate chance" to play this week against the Ravens after sitting out Week 3 with injuries.
• As he did immediately after Monday's game, Tomlin again gave Chris Boswell a vote of confidence. The kicker has made just one of four field goals this season, a 38 yarder in the second quarter vs. Tampa, while missing two extra points.
"He's a heckuva kicker, he's our kicker," Tomlin said. "I am concerned about the ball not going in, but I'm not concerned about him. I have a great deal of confidence in him. He'll get it turned around. I'll acknowledge it hasn't been where we need it to be thus far."
• Another player Tomlin is not overly concerned about is Antonio Brown. The mercurial wide receiver had six catches for 50 yards and a TD on Monday to give him 24 receptions for 210 yards and two TDs on the season.
Those totals not only don't lead the NFL, they don't even lead the Steelers. JuJu Smith-Schuster is the team leader with 27 for 356. As he said last week, Tomlin believes opponents are defending Brown tighter with Smith-Schuster being the benefactor.
"It'll smooth out over time, I'm sure," Tomlin said. "AB is AB. He's a significant contributor in any setting. He showed that in the first half last night on that catch and run for seven (points). I'm not concerned about it at all."
• Jordan Berry didn't have a great game but he certainly had his best so far this season. He averaged 41.6 net yards per punt with a long of 56 and landing two inside the 20.
A week ago, Tomlin brought in two punters to audition for the job and to push the Australian. It seemed to work as Berry is still the punter, but his employment is tenuous.
"Keep watching," Tomlin said. "Liked some of the things that happened last night but, you know, we've got to build that day by day."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers at Buccaneers, Tampa Bay, Sept. 24, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS