'It was a bad idea' – Steelers HC Mike Tomlin takes blame for special teams play that nearly cost them the win
Sometimes, you have to put it all on the line and relish the results. That exact scenario happened for the Pittsburgh Steelers, not once, but twice when they decided to go for it on fourth down in their nail-biting, 28-27 win over the Washington Commanders. But had their second attempt gone astray, their first shot […]
Sometimes, you have to put it all on the line and relish the results.
That exact scenario happened for the Pittsburgh Steelers, not once, but twice when they decided to go for it on fourth down in their nail-biting, 28-27 win over the Washington Commanders.
But had their second attempt gone astray, their first shot at going for it on fourth down would have likely cost them the game, something Mike Tomlin took accountability for:
Mike Tomlin Owns the Fake Punt Debacle
"You can't come in hostile environments versus good people and not be aggressive and aggressively pursue victory," said Coach Tomlin after the game. "We're not going to live in our fears. That's just how we go out. Same thing on the fake punt. That is on me. I own that, but I'll do it again. We didn't execute it, so it was a bad idea, but our guys fought. They didn't blink. We got contributions in all three phases. We got contributions from old Steelers, like Cam [Heyward] who has been around forever. We got contributions from new Steelers, man like Mike Williams and Preston [Smith], and we're just appreciative of all parties involved."
I'm all for an aggressive mindset in the pursuit of victory and certainly in hostile environments. But as stated in the above tweet, the fake punt came at not only the wrong place and wrong time but with little self-awareness from Coach Tomlin, Danny Smith [Special Teams Coordinator] and the special teams unit in general.
The Steelers aim to win with defense, time of possession, and of course, some of the best special teams in the league. Giving your opponent a short field, on the road and with a flourishing young QB via Jayden Daniels goes against all of that.
And sure the Steelers won, and in all honesty, the play should have been completed as it was just a horrible drop from the gunner. But that is neither here nor there. Pittsburgh officially passed their first test of the season, but it only gets harder from here as the team takes on the Baltimore Ravens next week.
