Steelers HC Mike Tomlin only makes things worse by sharing his reasoning behind wild 4th down attempt
The Pittsburgh Steelers believe in complimentary football. That is, they play a brand of ball where their offense, defense, and kicking unit work in tandem with one another. Well, the man who believes in that recipe the most threw it out of the window on Saturday and didn't help himself after the fact. Steelers wanted […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers believe in complimentary football.
That is, they play a brand of ball where their offense, defense, and kicking unit work in tandem with one another.
Well, the man who believes in that recipe the most threw it out of the window on Saturday and didn't help himself after the fact.
Steelers wanted a deep shot on 4th and 6
"Yeah, we got the look we anticipated man. We had a shot down the field, they made a play, we didn't," said Tomlin when asked about the decision to go for it at that point in the game.
There is a time and a place for going for it on 4th down. One of those times and places was last week when the Steelers and Coach Tomlin didn't go for it on 4th and seven in favorable field position and down two scores against the Philadelphia Eagles.
But down only one score, with one of the best defenses in the league and a whole quarter to play while being at midfield is far from the appropriate time or place to go for it. And in an age of analytics and number-driven data dictating a lot of coaching decisions, I appreciate a coach with the status and resume of Mike Tomlin deciding to go for it.
But that call, along with the head-scratching plays that his QB Russell Wilson had ultimately cost the Steelers the game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Ever since George Pickens went down and the team clinched a playoff spot, there has almost been this idea of "Oh just get ready for the playoffs." Well, now that Pittsburgh has lost, if Baltimore wins out, the Steelers will have to beat the 14-1 Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas and a red-hot Cincinnati Bengals team who will be fighting for their playoff lives in the regular season finale.
Meaning, Saturday's loss could certainly come back to bite them.
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Crazier things have happened.
