Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger Gets Critical Over Some Of Mike Tomlin's Coaching Decisions

The Pittsburgh Steelers got handed their worst loss of the season in Week 12 by the Cleveland Browns. The Browns led for the majority of the game. The Steelers came back to reclaim the lead in the fourth quarter, but ultimately the Browns were able to sneak away with their third win of the 2024 season. There was a ton of fallout from the loss, with Head Coach Mike Tomlin being considered a big reason for his team's third loss of the year. Tomlin made some questionable decisions on fourth down that seriously affected the game.

Tomlin had arguably his worst performance of the 2024 season as the coach had some questionable timeout usage and struggled with whether or not to accept a penalty in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. What was more frustrating were the fourth down decisions made by Tomlin throughout the contest. His former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger criticized the coach for some of the fourth down decisions during the most recent episode of his podcast, Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger. 

"I wondered, just some of my thoughts on the fourth down decisions that Coach T was choosing," Roethlisberger said. "Like I wanted, in that kind of a game where you know that they're maybe struggling on offense and your defense is playing well, like did he ever consider punting on some of those fourth downs, or just trying to flip the field. You know, like let's play the field position game, because there were times obviously going for it on fourth down, going for a long field goal, that you gave them great field position."

Field position is important in every game of football, but it is especially important in a game with rough weather conditions. The team that can win the field position battle and protect the football will usually win the game, and the Steelers took some gambles that set them up for failure. Pittsburgh went for it twice on fourth down and failed, but thankfully the Browns couldn't make anything happen with a short field on their ensuing drives.

Tomlin was unnecessarily aggressive to begin the game against Cleveland. Pittsburgh's offense moved the ball relatively well on their first drive of the contest, but the drive stalled out after crossing midfield. The weather conditions were rough with it precipitating and the wind blowing hard, but Tomlin still opted to send Chris Boswell out to attempt a 58-yard field goal. That's a difficult kick, especially in those conditions, which is why Roethlisberger questioned the decision.

"Yeah, first off, 58 yards in those elements," Roethlisberger said. "I would say this, what felt weird to me is that it felt rushed. The field goal felt rushed. Like was it a late field goal call? Was Coach Tomlin thinking about punting first and then was like let's go field goal? Because it just looked like the play clock was getting low, like Bos, usually he is out there and ready to go."

Deciding to kick a field goal seemed like the wrong decision in the moment, and that ended up being true as Boswell missed the uprights wide right. This set the Browns' offense up with great field position right near midfield. Thankfully Pittsburgh's defense forced them to go three and out, but the decision not to punt the ball by Tomlin was definitely mind boggling. 

Steelers' Current Players Were Even Shocked By Tomlin's Decisions

Tomlin has been aggressive throughout the 2024 season, which was seen when Pittsburgh attempted a fake punt deep in their own territory against the Washington Commanders. He clearly continued that trend in Cleveland, and even some current players on the roster were shocked by some of the decisions. Miles Killebrew said he was surprised when the team went for it on fourth down. It will be interesting to see if Tomlin continues on with this aggressive mindset as the Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13.

What did you think about Roethlisberger's remarks on Tomlin's coaching decisions? Let us know in the comments below!

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