“We don’t live in our fears.”
It’s one of the most famous, or infamous, Tomlin-isms over the course of his time as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It’s a nice prophecy, but one that has rarely seen the light of day in recent years, and in the domed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, it once again would be shielded from the oxygen it needs to survive.
Late in the third quarter of Saturday’s insanely important game, Mike Tomlin made one of the worst decisions of the entire season, and maybe his career, to waive the white flag and submit to the Colts.
Down 24-13 and having the ball on the Colts’ 39-yard line, Tomlin decides to send out his punting unit, giving Indy the ball back without even trying to score points.
As a bit of a backdrop on this game: the Steelers had jumped out to an impressive 13-0 lead to start the game. Before you get too impressed by the offense, one drive started at midfield and another started at the 1-yard line thanks to a blocked punt.
After that, the offense had returned to its usual stalling, while the Colts finally got things figured out and began marching down the field left and right.
Indianapolis had scored 24 unanswered points on the Steelers in that time, and on this drive where the Steelers ultimately punted, Pittsburgh had finally started to establish some idea of an offense.
To add to that, the Steelers employ Chris Boswell, statistically one of the best kickers in the entire NFL. He is the most successful kicker in Steelers history from 50+ yards, at over 80% in his career.
This would have been a long field goal, no question, somewhere in the 50+ yard range, but it was one Boswell was capable of making.
Even more ideal to try the field goal: they were playing in a dome. There was no concerns of wind or weather conditions that could justify a punt there instead. Absolutely none.
A field goal, if Boswell is successful, makes it a one-score game, and gives the Steelers at least some momentum as they try and climb back into a game that rapidly got away from them.
Every sign in the world points to the decision to kick the field goal and try and get the three points.
It’s the logical idea. It’s the best idea.
And at first, it seemed as though that’s what the Steelers were going to do. Chris Boswell is on the field, beginning to get ready for possibly a season-altering kick. But as he is looking to the sideline, he begins to slowly walk back over, and angrily unclicks the chin strap on his helmet.
However, Tomlin rejects the idea to try and kick it there. Instead, Tomlin decides to go the other direction, sending his punt team out there to give the ball back to the Colts.
Even Rich Eisen, a noted Tomlin supporter who was calling the game, sounded dumbfounded by the decision.
The only hope now is that you can pin the Colts deep in their own territory, and play the field position game from there.
Instead, Pressley Harvin goes out and shanks a 22-yarder to give the Colts the ball on their own 17-yard line.
To be honest, I can’t help but feel that’s what Tomlin deserved.
With the ball, the Colts march down the field and tack on a field goal, to make it a 14 point game. More importantly though, they take up nearly 9 minutes on the clock doing so.
That leaves the Steelers with very little time to stage a comeback for the ages, something they ultimately fall well short of.
Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky throws his second interception of the day on the ensuing Pittsburgh drive, all but sealing the game and probably, his own team’s fate.
The Colts miss a field goal to go up 17, but it’s no matter at this point. The Steelers bench Trubisky and decide to throw third string QB Mason Rudolph to the wolves.
Predictably, he is trampled by them.
The decision to punt was the very definition of living in your fears. The fear of missing the field goal and giving the Colts great field position was far too great for Tomlin, so he decided to punt instead.
In any game at any point of the season, this would be a heavily scrutinized decision, given the circumstances regarding whether and who was kicking for them.
In any game, I would likely disagree with this decision, because you have to risk it at some point to come back in this game.
However, when you add in the ramifications of this game, the decision looks infinitely worse.
At 7-6, this was a game the Steelers desperately needed to stay alive in the AFC playoff race. A loss, to an AFC team who was also 7-6, would be absolutely devastating. Not only do the Colts leapfrog you in the standings, but they now hold the tiebreaker over your head for the rest of the year.
The road to a playoff berth at 7-7 is vastly different than 8-6, and with such a crowded playoff race at this stage of the season, they would likely need to win out if they wanted any of those wild card spots.
If you lose this game, it might spell the end of your season. This is a gotta-have-it type of game, and at the very least, a gotta-have-it type of play. You have to come away with points.
Punting there is waiving the white flag. That punt was symbolic of what Tomlin is doing for the rest of the season. With that decision, he’s punting on 2023.
When asked about that decision after the game, Tomlin gave a rather puzzling answer.
“Not a lot had gone in our way to that juncture that made me feel good about banging a 57 yard field goal,” Tomlin said.
He cited that on previous plays in that sequence, he thought his team was going to gain some additional yards, to perhaps make that field goal more manageable.
“I didn’t like that field positioning,” he ended that statement with.
The field positioning is a concern. If Boswell misses it (he missed a PAT earlier in the game), it gives the Colts great starting field position.
But if Tomlin really, truly, didn’t live in his fears, he would have trotted Boswell out there loud and proud, and told him to drill it 57 yards to make it a one score game.
Punting there is punting on the 2023 season. And in the most poetic way possible, the Steelers can’t even do the punt correctly.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
Leave a comment