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WATCH: Ridiculous, controversial call by officials leads to Ravens touchdown against Steelers to end first half

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•01/01/23•

ChandlerVessels

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Justin Berl/Getty Images

A questionable penalty call from officials in Sunday night’s game between the Ravens and Steelers led to a touchdown from Baltimore right before halftime.

After linemen from both teams got into a shoving match after a third-and-16 in which the Ravens came up short, Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cameron Heyward was called for unnecessary roughness. The call turned what would have been fourth down into first-and-goal for Baltimore, and Tyler Huntley found Isaiah Likely for a touchdown on the very next play.

You can view both plays below.

The call and subsequent score resulted in the Ravens taking a 10-3 advantage over the Steelers into the locker room.

“We’ve just got to use it for our positive good,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said when asked about the play coming out of halftime. “Emotions are a part of it. Look at this atmosphere. We’ve got 30 minutes in front of us tonight and we are gonna play with an edge and play with emotion. We’ve just got to do it in the right way.”

Sunday night’s game has big playoff implications for the Steelers, which must win both this game and in Week 18 to make the postseason. However, late in the fourth they trailed 13-9.

George Pickens gets away with hilariously disrespectful celebration after spectacular catch

Steelers rookie receiver George Pickens came down with quite the catch in the third quarter Sunday night against Baltimore, but his celebration received just as much attention.

Pickens dove to snag the catch for the first down, delivering one of the highlight plays of the evening and earning high praise from the Sunday Night Football crew. But after getting up from making the catch, Pickens stepped over the top of Ravens defensive back Brandon Stephens.

Many on social media chimed in about Pickens’ celebration, drawing similarities between the receiver and NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson.

The moment with Iverson happened during the 2001 NBA Finals between the 76ers and Lakers. Iverson crossed over Lakers guard Tyronn Lue and then drained a step back jumper over him. Then, Iverson stepped over Lue on his way back down the court.

George Pickens’ catch ultimately did not lead to a touchdown, though the Steelers did score a field goal to close the drive to make it 13-6. At the time of this writing, the catch was the only that Pickens has made all game, and resulted in a gain of 14 yards.