Steelers Now
The Detroit Lions had two touchdowns negated due to offensive pass interference penalties late in Sunday’s wild 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan thinks the refs got the last one right, but the first one wrong dead wrong.
“They got the last one right, but they certainly got the previous one dead-ass wrong,” said former NFL coach Rex Ryan on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday. “The defensive guy on the St. Brown touchdown, he’s the guy that initiated the contact here on TeSlaa. This is an awful call. And unfortunately it cost the Lions here a win and probably a playoff spot. This is atrocious right here.”
"They got the last one right, but they certainly got the previous one dead ass wrong."
—Rex Ryan on the officials' calls at the end of Steelers-Lions pic.twitter.com/0IZnfznyig
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 22, 2025
On the first one, Lions rookie Isaac TeSlaa was called for an OPI on Amon-Ra St. Brown’s go-ahead touchdown with 22 seconds remaining.
The official thought TeSlaa committed an illegal pick.
“The reporting official on that play told me that the offending player [TeSlaa] picked one of the defenders, creating an opportunity for the offensive player [St. Brown] to make the catch,” referee Carl Cheffers said in a pool report after the game.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff disagreed with the TeSlaa OPI.
“The one where [St. Brown] caught it and we thought was a touchdown, in my opinion that’s a bad call,” Goff said.
A terrible penalty assessed on Lions Rookie Isaac Teslaa for being redirected into a defensive player on Amon-Ra St. Brown's go-ahead TD with :22 sec left in the game. #Lions #DetroitLions #lionsvssteelers pic.twitter.com/jv5D4PYXS3
— All 22 Films (@All_22_NFL_Cuts) December 22, 2025
Lions star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson also commented on the officiating. He thought the officials were involved in the game too much.
“There’s two ways you can look at this. Obviously we want to be better (on defense) in the run game … That sucked. But the intervention I saw from those refs late in that game, I’ve never seen two offensive PI’s to lose a game like that.”
Aidan Hutchinson: “There’s two ways you can look at this. Obviously we want to be better (on defense) in the run game … That sucked. But the intervention I saw from those refs late in that game, I’ve never seen two offensive PI’s to lose a game like that.” pic.twitter.com/8WFVkY4y5L
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) December 22, 2025
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former NFL HC Thinks Lions Got Robbed by the Refs: ‘This Is an Awful Call’
