In a game between the best rivals in football on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed, 23-20, over the Baltimore Ravens.
After the contest, Ravens' star receiver Anquan Boldin wasn't happy with the officiating, saying he felt the calls weren't going both ways. According to triblive.com, Boldin thought Pittsburgh's corners were getting away with overly physical play, while he was whistled for the same infractions.
"They were making bad calls all night, "Boldin said about the referees. "I know they don’t want me to say it, but this is what it was: You can’t allow a guy to hold and when a receiver breaks free, call a pass interference. You can’t have it both ways."
"If you are going to allow us to play football, let us play football," said Boldin. "If guys want to hold, I know how to get a guy off me. You can’t let a guy hold somebody and complain about a guy throwing somebody off when he is trying to get out of a route."
Boldin has a history of playing a very tough, physical style of football as a bigger receiver, but doesn't usually illicit penalties.
It had to be a frustrating day for Boldin, despite his personal success of 81 yards and a touchdown. Baltimore was expected to beat a very banged-up Steelers team at home, only to succumb to Charlie Batch and company.
The win for Pittsburgh was a much bigger deal for them than the loss is for the Ravens. With the victory, the Steelers stay ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals, if only by a tiebreaker for the sixth and final AFC playoff seed.