NFL fans outraged as George Pickens' TD gets called back vs. Giants - "Roger Goodell completely ruined this league"

George Pickens thought he had a touchdown for the Steelers against the Giants on Monday Night Football, but it was then ruled out by the officials. Russell Wilson threw the pass and it was caught cleanly in the endzone. The wide receiver was not near the whitewash, and he got his right foot in twice before falling out of bounds. The common understanding of the way the rule is interpreted is that two feet need to be inbounds for it to count.

And according to that interpretation, it should have counted. However, the rulebook mentions "both feet" and George Pickens' left foot did not touch the ground. Therefore, it was ruled as an incomplete pass after review. To add insult to injury, the Steelers decided to challenge it after an official review, which is not allowed. It led to them losing a timeout to add to their troubles.

It led to fans complaining about Roger Goodell needlessly making the rules obtuse and taking away from the enjoyment of the game. They took to X/Twitter to air their frustrations. One reaction summed up what people were thinking.

Fans understood that the referees called it correctly but thought that the rule detracted from the spirit of the game. Many asked it to be changed following this instance. Here are some more responses.

"Same foot twice should be a catch. If someone hops on the same foot 15 times that’s still not a catch? Ridiculous" - said one.

"Need to redefine rules again. 1 set for face down catches and 1 set for on your back catches. If the ball never touched the ground it’s obviously a catch." - complained another.

"Getting the same foot down twice should count as 2 feet down." - wrote one commenter.

George Pickens and Steelers not the only ones to feel aggrieved by referees in game against Giants

After the play was called back and overruled to an incomplete pass instead of a touchdown, the TV broadcast showed George Pickens and the Steelers sideline in disbelief. However, it is unlikely that they would get any sympathy from the Giants after they themselves had a touchdown ruled out on a technicality.

Malik Nabers looked to be in motion when Daniel Jones received the snap and threw a touchdown pass in the opposite direction that was caught and taken into the endzone. However, the officials called it an illegal shift because he had not been set in his original position for at least one second.

Before that, the Steelers had another touchdown overruled after it was called back for a facemask penalty. It was not a yank and looked accidental, but one could understand the rationale of that play.

And that is how the first half went with both Steelers and Giants making endzone trips only for the rulebook to get in the way.