He doesn’t live in his fears.
Until he did. And understandably confused Pittsburgh Steelers‘ fans.
Mike Tomlin was asked to explain his rationale for kicking a field goal down 32-27 with three minutes left. Chris Boswell would make the field goal but the Seattle Seahawks would score an 80 yard touchdown on the ensuing drive, preserving their win.
“Whether or not we kicked a field goal or went for a touchdown and got that touchdown or didn’t get that touchdown, a subsequent stop was going to be required. With that understanding, I wanted to increase the amount of positivity in terms of us moving the ball down to that position. I took the three points. It was going to required that we have a stop regardless in order to win the game.
I wanted to T the defense up from a momentum standpoint. A positive momentum standpoint…I wasn’t concerned about our ability to get back down the field based on what transpired to that point offensively. We had no problems moving the ball.”
I’m not so sure about the feng-shui “increase positivity” comments, but it’s a fair explanation from Tomlin. Perhaps not totally agreeable but Tomlin’s “don’t live in your fears” mentality isn’t a catch-all that requires him to be aggressive in every single situation.
Even some one as conservative as me would have gone for it and still believe it was ultimately the wrong decision, but Tomlin has frankly made bigger mistakes in games than this one. And to his credit, as he always does, he owned the decision.
Based on how poorly the defense was playing, I’m not sure there was any “right call,” because as he points out, they’re still going to have to get a stop. On a day where Russell Wilson had one of the best games statistically ever against the Steelers’ defense, that was a tall task.
