Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The illegal formation penalty late in the fourth quarter that negated a Mason Rudolph 22-yard scramble was certainly pivotal in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 31-28 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Kenneth Gainwell and Calvin Austin III were both not on the line of scrimmage, leaving right tackle Troy Fautanu left uncovered. There has to be seven players on the line of scrimmage.
The crucial penalty set the Steelers back to third-and-9, which resulted in a Mason Rudolph incompletion intended for DK Metcalf. The Steelers ended up getting the ball back for one last possession, but they could’ve had the ball at the 50-yard line with a little over two minutes remaining if it wasn’t for the illegal formation penalty.
“We own that as a collective,” Tomlin said of the illegal formation mishap. “We didn’t do a good enough job in that moment as a collective.
“We fought our tails off and had a chance to have the ball and go back at them. We converted a third down and four, Mason did with his legs, went down the field. But certainly, we were illegal there, and we were deserving of that penalty.”
Watch to TJ Watt breakdown this illegal formation penalty that negated Rudolph scramble into Bears territory. Unacceptable by the offense. Austin and Gainwell. This can’t happen. pic.twitter.com/V7IrsQpQKT
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) November 23, 2025
The CBS cameras even captured Aaron Rodgers noticing that the Steelers were in the wrong formation.
The Steelers were certainly not a buttoned-up team on Sunday. The schematics and lack of discipline continue to be an issue. Tomlin, Teryl Austin and Arthur Smith all are at fault.
The Steelers made several mistakes that simply should have not happened. In addition to the illegal formation gaffe, they had a failed tush push attempt with Connor Heyward on fourth-and-1, Ben Skowronek’s crucial holding penalty on a punt return, playing Cover 3 against four verts on D.J. Moore’s 25-yard touchdown, deploying nickel with two defensive tackles on Kyle Monangai’s 2-yard touchdown run.
Aaron Rodgers nailed this one! He saw the bad formation before the play… pic.twitter.com/uqZ60Zltk0
— Chad Reuter (@chad_reuter) November 23, 2025
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Mike Tomlin Explains What Went Wrong on Crucial Illegal Formation Penalty vs. Bears
