Late in the first half, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty that allowed the Baltimore Ravens to convert a third down as opposed to being forced to kick a field goal. The Ravens turned their good fortune into a touchdown on the next play and they went into halftime leading 10-6.
Even if we put aside the fact that nothing Heyward did warranted a penalty, something Cris Collinsworth said during the television broadcast was more telling. Collinsworth first noted that Heyward had been talking to the officials consistently in the first half with what he assumed were concerns about something the Ravens were doing.
But then after that, he said that for Baltimore this was just part of the gameplan. Knowing which guys they can bait into mistakes and how to do it was what led to Heyward’s mistake.
Let us know in the comments if you think the flag was fair and if you think the Ravens are in Heyward’s head now by design.
