Dunlap: Mike Tomlin Really Messed This One Up
There is no defense.
No justification, no validation, nothing Mike Tomlin can claim as an excuse or explanation to where his decision could ever be correct.
He was just wrong and put his team in a huge bind. Period.
He can say all he wants about not living in his fears and use that tired, recycled phrase again and again --- but I'm not buying a word of it. Not one single word of that reprocessed and reused "not living in our fears" stuff.
He was just wrong and put his team in a huge bind. Period.
As the Steelers absorbed a dismal and disheartening 39-30 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday --- then were made to withstand what had to be one of the longest flights home in NFL history --- the root of this loss has to come down on Mike Tomlin. I don't see how anyone can see it any other way.
You see, way back on the very first play of the second quarter, with the Steelers clinging to a 3-0 lead, Tomlin gave the OK --- at least that's the thought here --- in trying what had to be one of the most boneheaded, short-sighted and downright irresponsible playcalls in recent memory.
Instead of attempting a 44-yard field goal on 4th-and-2 with Chris Boswell that would have upped the advantage to 6-0 had it been good, Tomlin instead called for a senseless fake where backup Landry Jones tried to connect with tackle-by-trade-turned-receiver Alejandro Villanueva.
The ball was picked off and returned 54 yards.
Momentum shifted immediately.
The Seahawks scored a touchdown six plays later.
And Mike Tomlin had, effectively and excellently, outwitted himself and allowed a Seattle team that hadn't looked sharp to that point to start feeling good about themselves.
What nonsense.
What pure and utter baloney from Tomlin, who gets paid handsomely probably more to not make the wrong decision in moments such as those than to make the right one. Tomlin had to be one of the only people on the planet who felt a Jones-to-Villanueva combination would work in anything other than a Turkey Bowl game played in Blawnox or Bolivar or Bellevue.
This was a potential 10-point swing (the three points his team lost and seven gained by Seattle) that Tomlin frittered away that was oh-so avoidable.
It really is quite simple, if you don't live in your fears and truly want to go for it on 4th-and-2, why not just line up with your regular offensive personnel and try to blow through the Seattle defense? Put Roosevelt Nix or Will Johnson in at fullback with DeAngelo Williams behind them and try to bulldog some people?
That ain't living in your fears at all. Having your offensive line get lower and meaner and tougher than the guys across the ball --- which they had been to that point for sure --- ain't living in your fears. That's being smart and prudent and, in this case, making the right decision.
Conversely, trying to use a backup quarterback --- in the game cold --- to throw a pass out on the edge to a mountain of a man who hasn't caught one since his was in college and 100 pounds lighter is living in your fears, Mr. Tomlin.
Also, what's wrong with going ahead and trying to kick the field goal? What's wrong with trying to make it a 6-0 game at that point and keeping that Seattle crowd --- which hadn't been loud until that point --- still out of it?
Mike Tomlin was just wrong and put his team in a huge bind. Period.
He sent the wrong message both to his offense and his kicker.
Mike Tomlin's actions at the very start of the second quarter against the Seahawks have positively no defense.
Neither does his decision to eschew an attempt to put the ball in the end zone for a 22-yard field goal to make it 32-30 with just about three minutes left when the Steelers' defense had showed it couldn't stop Seattle from the second quarter on.
It's all so quizzical.
It's all so puzzling.
It's all on Mike Tomlin.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
