2018 NFL Monday morning recap week 13

Steelers: Big night in Pittsburgh with a stadium full of--as Cris Collinsworth put it--"Like coming to Canton." Big Joe Greene, John Stallworth, Mel Blount, and others from the '70s and then the guys like Brett Keisel, Rashad Mendenhall, and Casey Hampton for the ten-year reunion of the 2008 Super Bowl. The only question I had was, where was Troy Polamalu?

• Oh, my, oh, my, but what was with the officiating? Where they just bamboozled? Tired? Hungry? Not good, not good at all. So much for home-field advantage. It means nothing in this league.
• The Steelers came out hot with the defense stopping the Chargers and the offense with two quick touchdowns, but then the officials missed a false start that resulted in a touchdown. What? Interesting to hear Cris Collinsworth and Al Michael's discussion on that one. "How did they get away with a false start? "That play should've been killed from the start." According to Mike Tomlin at halftime, the refs agreed they screwed up, but what was their recourse? Uh, admit you messed up, and we do it again? Had it been reviewable, that's exactly what would've happened.
• Two Watts and Two Pounceys in the game; one on each team. Poor parents.
• Phillip Rivers commutes over a hundred miles to work. Jeez, the Dolphins use to fly in Dan Marino in a helicopter. Times have changed.
• One by one, we just lost players. The locker room had more players than the field. James Connor and Ryan Switzer are the two big ones; Connor for sure.
• Weird throws again by Ben. Overthrowing and leaving points on the field with wide-open men? That interception chucked ball that hell, I could've thrown better? Elite QB's can't do that, not anymore, especially in the AFC, if they want to get further in the game. Thank goodness Phillip Rivers was the opposing quarterback, so we don't have to hear about age.
• First time in 220 games at home that we've lost when we've led by 14 points or more. So much for December ball as Tomlin called it. So much for being home, playing at night in beautiful weather with a slew of legends on the field to back you up. Ugh.

Other -

• The refs weren't messing around today against the Jags after last week's barroom brawl on and off the field. In the first half, two players jumped up from a tackle and shouted in each other's faces, but the refs called the penalty on the Jags. Yep, when you misbehave, you get a reputation and always get blamed.
• By the second quarter, the Cardinals and the Packers had each punted three times with a combined total of 95 yards. The NFL Redzone popped in to give us this pertinent information to remind us both teams were playing. Or, at least they were attempting to play.
• The Bears did a heck of a job bringing the game into overtime against the Giants with a trick play at the end of regulation to tie it. Kudos to the Giants, however, for holding the Bears in overtime to take the game.
• By halftime in the first lot of games, there had been 17 turnovers--interceptions and fumbles galore. Plus, the underdogs were on fire!
• A lot of hard hits this week. I thought the Bengals Burfict had a nasty helmet to helmet, but his target jumped back up after the hit; however, I think the NFL should take a look at that.
• Seahawks Pete Carroll truly loves his job and football. He makes me nuts sometimes, but I admire the man for his love of the game. He looks like he is having tons of fun out there and is a fresh jolt next to all of the stodgy, somber, gruff-looking coaches in the NFL.
• Another tangle of emotions this week, this one in the Chiefs/Raiders game. In the end zone, the Chiefs Eric Murray didn't like something that went down with the Raiders Brandon Cooks. While there were no punches thrown, they grabbed each other's jerseys and pushed and shoved all around the field until one official slid while trying to break it up. It was ridiculous, but both penalties offset one another, and the Raiders ended up scoring not long after while emotions were still running high enough that the Chiefs screwed up and gave the Raiders another shot.
• This week was My Cause, My Cleats Day, and everyone got to wear personalized cleats of their fav charity. Ugh. I'm all for athletes using their platforms to bring awareness, but how much did all of that cost? Who's looking at the players' cleats while they're on the field? Not those people in the nosebleed section. They can barely see the helmets. Jeez. That stuff makes me nuts. Take the money used to make those cleats and give it directly to the charities.
• Whoa. Before the second group of games was even over, the Packers had fired Coach Mike McCarthy. 
• Adam Thielen attempted to have a conversation with Bill Belichick? Belichick shut that down with a "shut the fuck up." Thielen was concerned about an officiating call. Yeah, well, Thielen, you should've been in Pittsburgh.