The Pittsburgh Steelers have not done a very good job of holding themselves accountable for their disastrous final drive against the New England Patriots, and that theme continued when Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin spoke with the media on Tuesday.
After Juju Smith-Schuster caught a pass and ran 69 yards to the New England 10-yard line, the Steelers used their third and final timeout. Had they spiked the ball with 34 seconds left, they would have been able to collect themselves while still preserving a valuable timeout in a game they were trailing by three.
According to Roethlisberger and Tomlin, no decision had been made about whether or not the Steelers wanted to burn their final timeout when referee Tony Corrente made the decision for them.
Interesting: Ben Roethlisberger said the Steelers were still deciding whether to call time-out after that huge JuJu Smith-Schuster gain at the end of the Pats game, but ref Tony Corrente assumed he was – and whistled it.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 19, 2017
Tomlin says Roethilsberger was signaling timeout to the sideline after the JuJu catch, asking if he should call one. Tomlin didn't want it, but says Tony Corrente saw the signal and gave the Steelers the timeout.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 19, 2017
As the Steelers were running down the field to get to the line of scrimmage, you could clearly see Roethlisberger signaling for a timeout. Under those circumstances, it’s almost impossible for an official to determine whether the player is asking for a timeout or merely asking his coach if he should take one. Had the situation been reversed and Corrente not granted a timeout when Pittsburgh was asking for one, you can only imagine the backlash there would have been.
After Jesse James’ touchdown reception was overturned, the Steelers were completely disorganized. They had no idea what to do on what ended up being their final offensive play of the game, and it resulted in an interception with several players standing around looking confused. Tomlin said part of that had to do with the officials misleading his team about what the outcome of the replay review would be.
Mike Tomlin says majority of time during the Jesse James non-TD review was spent weighing what to do if ball was spotted at 1-yard line. B/c THAT is what refs indicated to him was the likely ruling. (Clock would've run, minus 10 seconds)
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 19, 2017
Roethlisberger has already thrown the coaches under the bus over the final play, and now he and Tomlin are making excuses about timeouts and misinformation. The officiating crew may not have done the Steelers any favors, but Tomlin’s team failed to remain composed and make adjustments in real-time. That’s why Bill Belichick and the Patriots emerged victorious, as they often do when situational football determines the outcome of a game.
