Some basic deficiencies in simple math cost the Pittsburgh Steelers big time in their 31-29 playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. That and a lack of guts late.
The math issue came with 10:25 to go and the Steelers trailing 28-23 after scoring a touchdown. Going for two points would bring the Steelers to within a field goal, so the try for two was defensible. And it looked brilliant when Hines Ward made a tough catch on the play. But a holding call negated the conversion and put the ball back at the 12-yard line instead of the 2. This is where simple math comes in – it is much better to take the sure one point on a kick from such a distance than trying again for two. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, though, went for it again and missed and Pittsburgh would chase that point all game.
Pittsburgh scored again four minutes later to lead 29-28 and had no choice but to go for two again. They failed a second time and those two points were the difference when Jacksonville kicked the winning field goal with 37 seconds left. Had Pittsburgh kicked the extra point from the 12-yard line with 10:25 left, they could have kicked another extra point later instead of trying for two and led 31-28, meaning the late Jaguar field goal would have meant overtime.
After the game Tomlin seemed confused by the whole sequence and kept insisting that the two-point chart all coaches use said to go for two down 28-23. The chart, though, was not assuming the attempt would be tried from 12 yards out. Common sense was lacking on the Steeler sideline.
The lack of guts came with about three minutes to go and Pittsburgh nursing a one-point lead. They faced third-and-6 from their own 30 and tried a lame-ass quarterback run by the elephant-footed Ben Roethlisberger that fell way short. Pittsburgh punted and the Jaguars drove down for the game-winning field goal.
All game, Ward and tight end Heath Miller were killing the Jaguars underneath and a first down would have really put Jacksonville in a hole time-wise and maybe iced the game. Roethlisberger had thrown for 337 yards while the team rushed for only 43, so a pass seemed a no-brainer. Tomlin, though, preferred to “play it safe” and it wound up blowing up in his face.
This is something teams like the Patriots and Colts would never do – they play to win, not to not lose. In a similar situation against the Jags in Week 13, with the Colts up by three and 2:47 left, Peyton Manning threw two passes in his own territory, both completions, and Jacksonville never saw the ball again.
I’ll let my brother Paul, a huge Steelers fan, have the last word, via e-mail: “That offensive coordinator should be fired IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!! The ball and a lead with 3 minutes left and they didn’t even TRY to make a first down. 3 runs and a punt. Totally chicken shit. That was the game right there. You don’t win playoff games by being afraid to win.” I love have a smart brother! –Jim Buzinski
on Jan 6th, 2008 at 10:49 AM
I respect your analysis but you fail to mention that on that Hines Ward catch for two points there was a penalty called for holding that should NEVER have been called because there WAS NO HOLDING. Madden, Michaels and everyone with whom I was watching (Steeler and non Steeeler fans) agreed. And, dude, how can you say that a team that made a comeback like the Steelers “lacks guts?”
on Jan 6th, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Its always real easy to say those 2-point conversion calls were a mistake AFTER the game was over and you see how things played out. Hindsight is 20/20, but those were the right calls at the time.
on Jan 6th, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Hey buccoman, it’s nice to see that you forgot to mention the obvious facemask penalty that wasn’t called against the Steelers on 4th and goal and a pass interference penalty was called on the Jags instead which gave Pittsburgh first and goal from the one. The Steelers never should have scored the TD that put them ahead.
As for the holding call, just because you or Madden or Michaels or your friends didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
on Jan 6th, 2008 at 1:32 PM
In the words of Herm Edwards…
YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME… HELLO?!?!?!… YOU PLAY…TO WIN… THE GAME
on Jan 6th, 2008 at 1:56 PM
I am just as big a Steelers fan as Paul, but maybe a little more compassionate. The Steelers lost three or four games this year where they played safe chicken s _ _ _ offense sitting on a small lead late in the game. It’s amazing they learned absolutely nothing from their earlier losses.
I’ll give first-year coach Arians another shot given the year Roethlisberger had. The O-Coordinator has to get some credit. But if they continue to do the same thing next year, Arians has to go immediately. Their Special???? Teams coach is another matter – the ‘help wanted’ sign should already be on the door.
Kudos for the way you analyze games, Jim. You always nail the key points.
on Jan 6th, 2008 at 3:37 PM
I respect your analysis but you fail to mention that on that Hines Ward catch for two points there was a penalty called for holding that should NEVER have been called because there WAS NO HOLDING.
Maybe so, but you don’t go for 2 from the 12 yard line in that situation.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 1:41 AM
This is simply fan-aticism. The call to go for two (regardless of the line to gain) was the correct call at that point in the game. The execution was lacking on the play, but not the decision making.
As for the 3 running plays at the end of the Steelers’ season, that was all “want to”. If the Steelers can’t gain 10 yards by running the ball, they don’t deserve to win the game. That quarterback sweep had worked several times throughout the season and poor execution was at fault. Also, the only reason Jacksonville was in position to kick the field goal was a 30+ yard run on 4th and 2 by the slowest quarterback since Bernie Kosar. Play some defense and you win the game!
Hindsight is fun, isn’t it?
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 2:51 AM
It’s much more difficult to get the two-pointer from the twelve than from the two. With the ball at the two a defense has to be more wary of a possible running play. From the 12, they can be in more of a pass-defense mode. I still think you go for “sure” points when you can get them. I was surprised they went for it on 4th down when they were down 5. It worked out only because, if I recall, that was the play where Hines Ward grabbed the defender’s facemask but the officials didn’t see/call it.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 8:44 AM
Lack guts? That is a pretty strong term. Poor call, yes. But lack of guts??
If the pass is incomplete, then you would be whining that they threw an incompletion stopping the clock and saving Jax a timeout.
They had a decision to make – run or pass. In hindsight, it didn’t work. But I take offense at you questioning their intestinal fortitude, because you didn’t like the play call.
And of course, it is something the Colts or Patriots would never do, because they never, ever make mistakes. Give me a break with these kneejerk commentaries.
The Colts and Pats win because they have better players than every one else – plain and simple.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 2:05 PM
Peter King of SI agrees with me:
I think of all the coaching decisions this weekend, the one I liked least was this one, in the Steelers-Jags game: Pittsburgh up 29-28, Steelers ball, third-and-six, 2:56 left. Jacksonville has two timeouts left. Both defenses are exhausted. Pittsburgh needs two more first downs to end the game, in essence. So the Steelers call a designed Roethlisberger rollout run left, with a third-string offensive tackle out there.
Third-and-two, I understand. Third-and-six? Ridiculous. By the time Big Ben chugged left, the entire Jag defense was there to greet him. Gain of one. Punt. I don’t understand, for the life of me, why an 8-yard curl to Hines Ward or a Santonio Holmes reverse isn’t the call. The odds of Roethlisberger making six yards on this play were what? Fifteen percent? Twenty? The Steelers had to punt, and Jacksonville took over at their 49, where the Jags began their game-winning drive.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 2:27 PM
I don’t recall Peter King saying that the Steelers lacked guts.
No one is saying that it was the greatest play call of all time, but your lack of guts comment was out of bounds IMO. Especially since the Steelers came back from an 18 point fourth quarter deficit. Lack of guts would be mailing it in when down 28-10.
But then as a sports journalist, it is easy to question the intestinal fortitude of someone from behind your keyboard.
Also proofread your columns before you post them, “I love have a smart brother!”
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 5:32 PM
Sorry you are so offended. Tomlin took the easy way out with the “safe call,” by the book, a run. That shows a lack of guts in crunch time. Too many coaches play it safe rather than put their teams in a position to win and Tomlin was one of them. I suspect that, being a rookie coach, he will get better and learn from his mistakes; the good ones do.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 7:30 PM
Sorry, Jim, but I am offended by the “lacking guts” moniker you’re attaching to the Steelers. It’s just too much of a generalization for the game I saw. I accept the analysis of poor play calling on that series but to characterize the Steelers as lacking guts in that playoff game, as the title of your piece infers, is just wrong. And, yes, we Steeler fans are sensitive!
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 8:08 PM
If you are at the Steelers post game press conference, would you have the “guts” to say to Coach Tomlin, “Why did you have a “lack of guts” on the 3rd and 6 play with 2:20 left?”
Would you say the same thing in person as you would write in your column?
No, I bet not.
No one is arguing the merits of the conservative play call. Your categorization of the team “lacking guts” was over the top. And “Sorry you are so offended” doesn’t sound like you are sorry at all. You are not even willing to try and understand why some of us are not thrilled with your comments. Try and look at it little introspectively rather than brushing us off.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 9:06 PM
I don’t see a problem with saying it’s a lack of guts. It’s an opinion. You’re free to disagree.
I thought going for it on 4th down (as I mention above) displayed guts. Foolishness, but still guts.
on Jan 7th, 2008 at 10:40 PM
It’s a case of sportswriter hyperbole. Paul Zimmerman from SI, the most respected pro football writer, has written repeatedly about coaching “cowardice,” and it’s all in the context of the game.
on Jan 8th, 2008 at 12:44 AM
Sportwriters are always condemning coaches and players who compare football to war. Sportswriters condemn football coaches and players for saying they are sending, “Their troops into battle.” or “It was a war out there.” Remember when Kellen Winslow Jr showed up in battle fitgues for a pre-game meal before a bowl game? Sportswriters ripped him apart. Wasn’t this just hyperbole on his part?
Of course, football does not compare to war. And the coaches comparison are wrong and Winslow looked like a fool.
But somehow the standards do not apply both ways. Your “sportswriter hyperbole” (a fabricated term if I ever heard one) is plain wrong and poor journalism. You can criticize a decision without ripping someone apart. And I don’t care if Paul Zimmerman, Peter King or Brittany Spears agree with you.
Also, you never answered my original question, Would you use that same term “lack of guts” in person at a press conference when questioning the Steelers play calls?
on Jan 9th, 2008 at 11:57 AM
My support of the Steelers is second to none in the room. Writing that their play calling at the end of the game was ‘gutless’ is dead on. The Steelers lost four – yeah FOUR – games this year when their opponents drove down the field on the final possession of the game. And they probably would have lost five if there hadn’t been a holding call against Cleveland on a last minute punt returned to the Pittsburgh 43.
Over and over, they played passively with late leads. How can anyone defend running the ball three times with eight or nine Jaguars in the box and then using a 245 pound quarterback to run laterally behind a third string tackle on third and 6 with the game on the line. Any courage the team showed in coming from behind was overshadowed by coaches who learned nothing from their four earlier losses and went into their proverbial shell – yet again – when it mattered the most.
on Jan 10th, 2008 at 1:31 PM
As a long time Steeler season ticket holder, I can’t help but think that all that “4th quarter drama” wouldn’t have been necessary if the Steelers knew a thing or two about tackling and, of course, Ben kept the ball in the hands of his own receivers. Oh yeah, and what was all that extra emphasis on special teams that Coach Tomlin introduced as far back as mini-camp in May??? Can you just imagine how piss poor special teams would have been without the extra time devoted ! YIKES!
on Jan 10th, 2008 at 3:40 PM
I found it interesting that Cowher criticized the play calling. At least he is being a real analyst on CBS and not a mouthpiece.