The referees screw the Steelers with a missed leverage call that costs Pittsburgh points

Refereeing performance has gotten worse on Sunday Night Football. After Steelers defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi was penalized with a false personal foul that ultimately gave the Jets seven points, an even worse foul was called in the second quarter.

Shortly after the Jets marched down the field for their second touchdown of the night, Pittsburgh found the spark…or so they thought.

On the point-after attempt, All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick timed the snap perfectly, jumped over the offensive line and blocked the extra point. This would have kept Pittsburgh within a touchdown. However, the referees called Fitzpatrick for leverage.

Upon replay, this turned out to be an outrageously bad decision. While Fitzpatrick touched a player with his hand as he crossed the line, he did not use his hands to leverage over the line. Speakers Mike Tirico and Chris Collinsworth agreed this was the wrong decision.

What's most unfortunate is that after the penalty, the Jets decided to go for two and were successful. This ultimately turned a 13-7 game into a 15-7 game, giving New York a two-point lead late in the first half.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were robbed of wrongful penalties against the Jets on Sunday Night Football. So far, this team has had no luck under the primetime lights.

Not only is Mike Tomlin's team battling an early deficit, but they're also going head-to-head with the officials in this contest. When Minkah's blocked extra point was called off because of a penalty, special teams coach Danny Smith raged on the sidelines. His oversized wad of gum nearly flew out of his mouth as he chatted with the officer.

This isn't going well, and the Steelers will need more favorable decisions if they don't want the Jets to run away with this competition.