Referee Looks Ready To Throw Hands After Catching Elbow From Bills Defensive End During Brawl Started By Kenny Pickett
Tempers were flaring during Sunday's game between the Bills and the Steelers. Even one of the officials was fuming and looked like he was ready to throw hands.
The tension began late in the third quarter when Kenny Pickett took a late hit. In his defense, a Pittsburgh lineman ran over to the Buffalo defender who laid the hit and shoved him down. A brawl broke out from there and benches cleared.
But it didn't stop there. The tone was set and things were getting chippy.
Later in the game, as the clock wound down in the fourth quarter, Pickett took another hit that he didn't like. Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson laid a low hit on the Steelers rookie, and the latter was not happy.
Pickett didn't stand idly by. He made sure that Lawson knew he was displeased and pushed him as they were both on the ground before following-up with a slap to the helmet.
In response, Lawson grabbed Pickett and started showing. It only escalated from there. Both teams converged on the scene and started jarring, pushing and shoving while Pickett and Lawson were separated.
Take a look at the Bills and Steelers brawl that started with a Kenny Pickett slap:
As the situation was deescalated, Buffalo defensive end A.J. Epenesa swung his elbow back behind his body and made contact with an official. That is very much not allowed. You cannot make contact with a member of the officiating crew.
After getting elbowed, the referee turned around and was fuming. He looked like he was ready to square-up with Epenesa and go 10 rounds with the 6-foot-6, 260-pounder. It was a hilarious overreaction, but somewhat warranted considering the situation at hand.
The elbow was ill-advised and got him ejected. It will likely cost Epenesa some fine money once the NFL looks at the tape from the incident and sees what went down.