With 2:01 left in the fourth quarter and the Pittsburgh Steelers trailing 21-18, they faced a 4th and 2 from their own 49. Pittsburgh’s play call? Throw a bomb to Diontae Johnson down the sideline. The pass fell incomplete, and the 2-10 Patriots took over and were able to run out most of the clock to beat the Steelers. Former Steelers safety and current analyst Ryan Clark was one of many miffed by Pittsburgh’s play call.
“That’s the fourth and 2 call? Really? Shut the eff up,” Clark wrote on Twitter.
The incompletion essentially cost Pittsburgh the game after cutting the New England lead from 21-3 to 21-18. The Steelers had some momentum, and a first down would’ve inched them closer to field goal range. Instead of playing it safe, the Steelers went for the home run, and instead swung and missed. Putting the game in the hands of a deep ball from Trubisky, who really struggled all game and finished with just 190 yards on 22 completions, was a bold call by Pittsburgh, and it didn’t work.
Losing to the Patriots is absolutely inexcusable, and the manner in which it happened makes it feel a lot worse. The Steelers had opportunities and instead failed over and over to truly seize the game and take momentum. Especially coming off a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, this wasn’t a game the Steelers could afford to come out flat and lose. They did, and now they’re facing a significant uphill battle to make the playoffs.
The loss is on everyone. It’s on the coaching staff for not getting this team ready to play. It’s on the players for poor execution, and it’s absolutely ridiculous that this team has now lost to back-to-back 2-10 opponents. Despite firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada, the offense hasn’t looked discernibly better, at least when it comes to putting up points, and tonight the play calling wasn’t anything to write home about. The offense didn’t move the ball all that well, either.
A lot of that is because Trubisky did not look like a veteran quarterback at all, constantly drifting back when under pressure and making poor decisions and poor throws all night. That’s why relying on him to complete a pass downfield on 4th and 2 with the game on the line is such a confusing decision. Frankly, it was the wrong one.
Now the Steelers have nine days to let this one sit before they take on the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 16. We’ll see if they’ll actually come out prepared in that one.
