When the Bengals face the Steelers at Heinz Field Sunday — following the wanton destruction of all three meetings between the division rivals last season — neither will be the most important nor most scrutinized team on the field.
That will be the officiating team.
That’s not just an assumption, based on the recklessness of last season nor the questionable handling of last Thursday’s Broncos-Panthers opener. According to ESPN, that’s coming from the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino. He told the network that there will be “heightened awareness” from the refs for Sunday’s game, with instructions to “set the tone early.