The Pittsburgh Steelers have been arguably overachieving this season, and with a 7-6 record, they currently sit in sixth place in the AFC, which means if the season ended today, they would make the playoffs.
However, they lost, 21-18, on Thursday to the awful New England Patriots, and there was a minor controversy during that game.
Star pass rusher T.J. Watt sustained a hard hit from Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott early in the game and missed two plays before returning to the field.
The next morning, he reported symptoms of a concussion and was put into the NFL’s concussion protocol, which raised the question of whether he was examined during the game.
The league and its player’s union will be investigating what happened in the interim per Ian Rapoport, and Rapoport pointed out that it is standard procedure anytime a player enters concussion protocol.
Watt is Pittsburgh’s lynchpin on defense, and he has 14.0 sacks, 27 quarterback hits, and 14 tackles for loss so far this season.
Defense is largely how Pittsburgh has been winning this year — they rank seventh in points allowed and turnovers forced, as well as fourth in opponents’ interceptions.
But on Thursday, they allowed New England quarterback Bailey Zappe to go 19 of 28 and throw for 240 yards and three touchdowns.
