Steelers Get Favorable Offseason News As NFL Officiating Changes Could Help Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers have an incredibly interesting 2025 season ahead. As the franchise has faced intense scrutiny for not winning a playoff game since the 2016 season, the front office responded by completely revamping the roster. The team plays in a very tough AFC North division, but the conference as a whole is stout all over the place. The organization has a modest schedule that is particularly a bit easier in the beginning. All games at the professional level have their own levels of difficulty, but it's never a bad thing for Head Coach Mike Tomlin and his group to gain any kind of advantage possible.

Officiating is a very important piece of every contest at the professional level, and it just so happens that many crews have trends, as well as certain facts that can be applied to each game weekly. Not many fans of the league will track what is going on when it comes to officiating in the middle of July, but some news came out on Wednesday, which could be perceived as more of a positive compared to a negative for the Steelers.

According to Football Zebras, there has been some reconstructing in regards to the league's referee crews for the 2025 season. Most notably, Alex Moore was promoted to be a referee in what will just be his fourth NFL season. Tra Blake was demoted and will serve as an umpire.

"There is also a new referee this season, Alex Moore, who becomes the 10th new referee in the past 8 seasons," the article read. "He is replacing Tra Blake, who was re-assigned to the umpire position, serving on the crew of Shawn Smith."

When taking a deep dive into the groups that Moore was a part of throughout the last three seasons, the Steelers have fared well in three games, going 2-1. The two victories were won handily, as the first saw Pittsburgh defeat the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 24-17 and rarely trailed during the game in 2022. In 2024, the New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers lost in the Steel City with the final result being 37-15.

Additionally, those three games in which Moore was on the assigned crew, the Steelers were only called for a total of nine penalties, averaging just three per contest. While it is a small sample size, it's hard to argue that Tomlin's teams haven't been on the better end of games when Moore is on the field as an official. While the newly-promoted referee may only have one Steelers game on his schedule in 2025, no one knows just yet how important that matchup may be.

All teams are on the receiving end of both bad and favorable calls throughout any NFL season, but one thing that can seriously affect the outcome of a game is how often a group is penalized. Moore has only been officiating games for a few years, and as an umpire, but a crew will usually follow the direction of its leader, so it will be intriguing to see how the freshly-appointed referee will calls games while in charge.

It might be a subtle update during a dull period in the NFL offseason, but the matter of the fact is that a relatively inexperienced individual will lead a crew for the first time in 2025, and it will certainly be something for organizations to keep an eye on.

Steelers Can't Rely On Officiating Crews To Decide Games In 2025

It is never good if a professional game comes down to one call. That likely means that several other things could have been done before to change the outcome of the matchup. While Pittsburgh has a strong track record with Moore on the field as an official, it's best for Tomlin and the Steelers to focus on what they can control, rather than leaving anything in the hands of anyone else.

Do you think assigned officiating crews make a big difference in games at the professional level? Let us know in the comments below!

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