Steelers' Mike Tomlin Makes Profound Statement After Being Knocked Out Of Playoff Picture: "Don't Deserve To Win"

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Chicago Bears on Sunday by a score of 31-28. The loss put Pittsburgh at 6-5 through 11 games and knocks the franchise out of first place in the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens won their game against the New York Jets and have moved into first place in the division, and as things currently stand, the Steelers are out of the playoffs if the regular season were to end today. Pittsburgh made mistakes in all three phases of the game in Chicago, and ultimately the team could not pull off a comeback in the fourth quarter.

There were multiple instances in the game against Chicago where Pittsburgh made some sort of mistake. The offense turned the ball over twice, special teams struggled, and the defense could not get the Bears offense off of the field. There was not one phase of the game that the Steelers won over Chicago. 

The Bears did great when it came to converting first downs, while the Steelers turned the ball over on downs twice. The first instance came in the first half, where Pittsburgh failed to convert a fourth and one rather than kicking a field goal to take a 10 point lead. Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about this decision during his post game press conference, and why he chose not to take the three points.

"Because if you can't make it on fourth down and one man; often times you don't deserve to win." Tomlin said.

The instance being referred to was in the second quarterback of the game as the Steelers had a seven point lead. Pittsburgh had the ball at Chicago's 30-yard line, and it was fourth and one. The Steelers lined up with Connor Heyward under center as the offense was doing its version of the "tush push". 

The play did not work as Heyward was stuffed and was not granted the line to gain on his second effort. The play resulted in a turnover on downs, and Chicago went on to tie the game up with a touchdown.

The play seemed dysfunctional for the Steelers as Heyward did not seem to give much of an effort after receiving the ball from the center. Kenneth Gainwell lines up behind Heyward to his side on this play, and the two were seen on the broadcast having a heated discussion after the play as they walked off of the field. Pittsburgh ran the same play with some trickery later on in the game, and that might have been the initial call on the failed fourth down attempt.

On the fake Pittsburgh ran, Heyward turned around quickly and gave the ball to Gainwell. Their heated discussion after the failed version of the "Tush Push" along with the lack of an initial effort from Heyward suggests that the fake might have been what was supposed to happen the first time around. A miscommunication may have occurred, but Tomlin still believes his team didn't deserve to win the game if his offense couldn't gain one yard in a high pressure situation.

Steelers Did Not Deserve To Win In Chicago

Pittsburgh struggled in every facet of the game on Sunday, and the group did not deserve to win despite a near game-winning drive to end the game. Pittsburgh turned the ball over twice, and each turnover resulted in points for Chicago. 

The offense put the defense in tough situations, and the defense could not get the opposing offense off of the field. Special teams was also an area that caused some trouble as Chicago was consistently able to return the ball out to around the 30-yard line, while Pittsburgh was often stuck with their drives starting around the 20.

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