Mike Tomlin was absolutely crushed on Twitter over his odd choice to go conservative at the goal line on Sunday night.
Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers went into halftime down 20-0 to the New England Patriots and put together a nice drive to start the third. They ended up with the ball at the New England 1, threw an incompletion, and then sent out the field goal team on fourth down. Yes, Tomlin thought he was going to field goal his way back into the game. Fans and observers could not believe it.
Dan Quinn loves that Field Goal, have to cut it from 3 scores to 3 scores
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) September 9, 2019
A field goal is an atrocious decision here.
— Dave Dameshek (@Dameshek) September 9, 2019
What a useless field goal by the Steelers. You're still down three scores. You're on the 1-yard line. 20-3
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) September 9, 2019
When Al Michaels is questioning your call, you know you messed up
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 9, 2019
A field goal???
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) September 9, 2019
Third and goal from the 1, Steelers go shotgun, and Big Ben throws a corner fade incomplete. Then they send the kicker on instead of going for it on fourth down. It's like Tomlin wants to lose
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 9, 2019
Tomlin got his 19-yard field goal and gave the ball back to New England on the kickoff. The Pats quickly scored to make it 27-3.
Three points aren’t going to get the job done, Mike. Worse yet, he forgot the benefits of going for it so close. Even if you get stopped, you have excellent field position. There’s little downside to going for it, unless you’re just trying to avoid the embarrassment of being shutout.
