Mike Tomlin said the NFL is angry over a Minkah Fitzpatrick-Adonai Mitchell penalty call

A controversial hit from Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick on Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell is allegedly being criticized by the NFL... according to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, anyway.

During the play, Mitchell was attempting a catch and came up short; even though the ball was not in his hands, Fitzpatrick still slammed into him, hard, and referee Land Clark flagged him for roughing the passer.

Fitzpatrick was notably furious about the call, and he didn't bother to hide it afterwards. "I thought we were playing football," Fitzpatrick said, according to the Tribune-Review. "I don't know what we're playing at this point. Very different game from what I grew up playing and grew up loving. Can't hit nobody hard. Can't be violent. Don't know what to say anymore."

Mike Tomlin is now claiming that that NFL officials agree with him. "I didn't like that call," Tomlin said during a press conference. "I talked to New York yesterday. They didn't like that call as well, but it doesn't help me on a Monday."

The penalty call made virtually no difference to the overall outcome of the game, which Tomlin acknowledged. "We still had a lot of opportunity to win that game, after that call in particular," he said, adding, "The officials aren't perfect. None of us are. We make mistakes in game that we have to overcome, and if they make a mistake in game, you better be prepared to overcome that as well. That's what you learn as an individual and a collective when instances such as that occur." 

Though the Steelers are seemingly still angry, they are also not acknowledging the double standard that took place during the Colts game, either. Isaiah Land was able to sack Justin Fields, while surrounded by other players, and both Fields and Land went down hard. Clark immediately called roughing the passer, however, which was a 15-yard penalty and led to a Steelers first down. Fans and analysts alike pointed out that Land literally had nowhere to go.

“The pocket was so tight that when I tackled him, there was nowhere for me to go,” Landtold the IndyStar. “I tried to put my hands out, I was trying to roll, but it was so tight in there that there was nowhere for me to go.”

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, had a rough hit on quarterback Anthony Richardson, and a helmet-to-helmet hit at that, which there was no penalty for. It was shrugged off as mere "incidental contact."

So while it might be irritating to have a call that one doesn't agree with, Fitzpatrick sounds like he needs to grow up and move on, and perhaps find some of the tact that Tomlin displayed. Blaming penalties for a loss is avoiding accountability for your own bad play, and nothing more.