Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a surprising 24-19 loss on the road against the Cleveland Browns. Just a few days ago, thanks to a win over the Ravens, they were considered Super Bowl contenders, but now uncertainty has returned.
The Steelers were losing 18-6 in the fourth quarter and managed to deliver an impressive comeback to take a 19-18 lead. However, when the Browns were advancing in the final minutes of the game, Tomlin made a very controversial call.
After an illegal touching on 3rd&2, the head coach decided to accept the penalty and produce a 3rd&7 instead of forcing the Browns to convert a fourth down or kick a field goal in the snow. That move might have cost the Steelers a chance to fight for the No.1 seed in the AFC with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
What is the Steelers next rival?
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost 24-19 with the Cleveland Browns and now have to prepare for another divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. Their schedule is very tough including rivals like the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs.
After that huge loss, Mike Tomlin explained his thought process to accept a controversial penalty which gave Jameis Winston and the Browns another chance to win.
“I thought it was a grounding. Initially, I couldn’t hear the officials. When I realized that it wasn’t ruled a grounding, I got information from them and made the call that we wanted to make. The distance was more important to us. If it wasn’t grounding, we wanted to move them five yards back. They were potentially kicking into the wind. So, we wanted to stop them and make the field goal a longer one.”
What is the Steelers record right now?
The Steelers have an 8-3 record and still lead the AFC North. However, they only have a one game advantage over the Baltimore Ravens. It’s going to be a race until the end and Tomlin doesn’t regret his decision at all.
“Again, I wanted to back them up to make it a more problematic kick for him based on the conditions with them kicking into the wind. It was a hard fought game. They made more plays over the course of 60 minutes than we did. Obviously, we’ve got to own our portions of it.”