Mike Tomlin Takes Blame For Jesse James' Controversial Steelers Moment

The Pittsburgh Steelers are well known for the organization's illustrious history. The franchise has found major success throughout multiple decades, and the Steelers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NFL. Consistency has been the key throughout the history of the organization, but the Steelers are kind of a laughing stock nowadays due to the consistency of the franchise. The group is constantly mediocre, and the lack of a playoff win over the last decade is a major talking point. The Steelers have had plenty of chances to win in the playoffs over the years, but the team was truly screwed during the 2017 season.

On December 17th, 2017, the Steelers hosted the New England Patriots in what was a big game in the AFC. It was still the regular season, but the game certainly had playoff implications when it came to the seeding of the playoff field. The Patriots entered the game with a record of 10-3, while the Steelers entered the game with a record of 11-2. Both teams finished the season with a record of 13-3, which were the two best records in the conference. The winner of this game determined who was going to be the one seed in the AFC, and the Patriots won the game by a score of 27-24.

The outcome of this game is highly disputed. The Steelers were driving down the field in the fourth quarter with under a minute left, trailing by three points. On first and goal, with just under 30 seconds left, Ben Roethlisberger fired a pass into tight end Jesse James, and it looked like he caught the ball and scored a touchdown to give Pittsburgh the lead. The touchdown wound up being taken away after review, which former head coach Mike Tomlin blames himself for, which he mentioned to Cam Heyward on Not Just Football.

"It's sick discussion for me," Tomlin said. "I was on the competition committee and had been on the competition committee for years at that point, and we screwed it up. We knew that we had a problem with catch, no catch, and because of a lack of time, we didn't get it fixed in the offseason prior to that. We knew we had a problem, but the calendar being what it was in the offseason, as a committee, we were multitasking."

Tomlin blamed the fact that the Super Bowl was pushed back deeper into February, which meant there was less time between the official end of the season and the Scouting Combine, which is when the committee would meet and go over things.

The Steelers lost the game after the touchdown was taken off of the board as Roethlisberger threw an interception on third and goal. The ball was tipped up in the air and the Patriots came away with it. Each team still had two games left on the year, but this game is ultimately what decided the one seed in the AFC.

Steelers' Season May Have Been Ruined By This Ruling

This was back when the top two teams in each conference got a bye week to begin the postseason, so the Steelers still had that and got to play in the Divisional Round at home. However, the matchup Pittsburgh was dealt in the second round of the postseason was influenced by the outcome of this game. The Steelers were forced to play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were the third seed in the playoff field for the AFC. The Steelers lost, and that is what started the playoff drought.

The Patriots got to play the 9-7 Tennessee Titans, which was a much easier matchup for New England, and it is all because the ruling was overturned on James' touchdown.

What do you think of this sentiment from Tomlin? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!

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