Steelers' Mike Tomlin Offers Ravens' John Harbaugh Savage Advice To Stop Crying

The Pittsburgh Steelers were fortunate to escape out of M&T Bank Stadium with a 27-22 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14 of the 2025 NFL season. This was a must-win game for Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, who had been dealing with plenty of noise and frustration from the Pittsburgh fan base. The victory pushed Pittsburgh to 7-6 on the season and put them back in control of the AFC North, keeping their playoff hopes alive during a critical stretch of the campaign.

Of course, the Steelers nearly blew the game. A controversial call late in the fourth quarter almost flipped the outcome entirely, and if the ruling had been different, Pittsburgh might have been staring at another collapse and a very different conversation today. The Ravens believed they had taken the lead when Isaiah Likely appeared to haul in a touchdown, but officials ruled the play an incomplete pass. The decision infuriated Ravens players, fans, and especially Head Coach John Harbaugh, who made his feelings clear afterward.

Tomlin, meanwhile, seemed unfazed by the controversy. When speaking to the Pittsburgh media on Tuesday, he offered some pointed and savage advice for Harbaugh as the outrage continued to echo out of Baltimore. Instead of feeding into the drama, Tomlin made it clear that the Steelers had moved on, and if the Ravens did not like the call, they needed to do the same.

"I've kind of learned to move on," Tomlin said Tuesday while talking about the controversial touchdown that was taken away from the Ravens. "I moved on from Jesse James, for example. I don't even know what year that was."

Tomlin did bring up the ever-infamous Jesse James catch that was ruled a non-touchdown in a critical game against the New England Patriots. Tomlin pointed out that he has no idea what season that even was because he does not think about it anymore. 

To be fair to Ravens fans, Steelers fans certainly still bring it up and talk about it every chance they get. Tomlin continued to explain that such is life in the NFL and that bad calls, or calls you do not agree with, happen and must be dealt with as part of adversity.

"There's going to be controversial calls in big games," Tomlin said. "I think I always focus my energy on making enough plays to minimize that in terms of determining the outcome of the game. That's why you won't hear me calling New York postgame and things of that nature. It's not going to change the outcome. I just work to keep moving."

While Tomlin acknowledged that there have been specific instances where the Steelers dealt with controversial calls, he noted that New York even contacted the team at times to admit officials were wrong. 

With the Ravens situation, it will be interesting to watch the fallout. Determining what is truly a catch and what is not has been a persistent issue in the NFL. The rule has changed repeatedly over the years, and there has been very little consistency on that front.

Rules Experts Defend Steelers Win Over Ravens

The league will continue dealing with this controversy until it finally establishes a clear and definitive standard for what qualifies as a touchdown and what does not. Even rules experts seem split at times, although Gene Steratore and Terry McAulay, two of the most respected voices in the field, agreed that ruling the play incomplete was the correct decision. Their agreement only strengthens the case that the officials got it right.

Now, as Tomlin emphasized, it is time to move on. The Steelers have already shifted their focus to the next challenge, and Harbaugh would be wise to take Tomlin’s advice and do the same. 

Steelers fans, without any bias, was that the right or wrong call on the Likely no-touchdown? Let us know in the comments below! Please feel free to share your Steelers takes with me on X @anthonyghalkias and follow me. I will respond!

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