The Pittsburgh Steelers made the decision to go for it on 4th and 1 from the Atlanta 6-yard line with 8:05 to go holding a 15-10 lead. A nice play by LB Nate Landman stuffed QB Justin Fields short of the sticks, causing a turnover on downs. Discussing the decision to go for it instead of kicking a field goal for an eight-point lead, head coach Mike Tomlin said the Steelers have faith in their offensive line.
“We live that life. We don’t live in our fears. We play and play to win. If you can’t get 4th and 1, sometimes you don’t deserve to win. And that’s a philosophic approach we live by. I believe in our bigs, I’ve talked to you guys repeatedly that we’re going to ride the wave that our bigs on our offense and defense provide, and we mean it. Obviously, we didn’t get it done right there, but we still live that life,” Tomlin said via Steelers.com.
If Pittsburgh had converted, it would’ve had a 1st and goal and an opportunity to extend its lead and make it a two-score game. But a field goal would’ve put the Steelers up eight, forcing the Falcons to go for two had they scored a touchdown. The failure to convert kept it a five-point game, but Pittsburgh’s defense held firm and didn’t let the Falcons score on the next drive, or the rest of the game.
It was an aggressive decision, and one that obviously would’ve looked a lot better in hindsight had it worked. The Steelers really only needed a few inches to pick up the first down, but Landman made a nice play jumping over the center and bringing Fields down behind the line to gain. Had Landman not gone over LG Spencer Anderson, the Steelers probably would’ve had enough of a push to convert and get a new set of downs.
At the end of the day, the Steelers’ defense got the stop, and they won the game. Given that situation, it probably would’ve made more sense to just take the points to make it an eight-point game, but I do like the aggressiveness out of Tomlin and wanting to go for it in those situations. It’s a sign of faith in the offense and the line, and the run game was solid for most of the day, with Fields having converted on a sneak earlier in the game too.
Had Pittsburgh lost the game, Tomlin’s decision would be the subject of much debate, but the Steelers took care of business and moved to 1-0. It’ll be interesting to see the decision-making process going forward in similar situations, though Tomlin seemed adamant that it’s a decision the Steelers will continue to make.
