It’s true the players make the plays. And the Pittsburgh Steelers’ unit didn’t make enough of them in Thursday night’s loss to the Cleveland Browns. But the coaching decisions of Mike Tomlin was an anchor that only weighed the team down. For beat writer Ray Fittipaldo, it was a true top-down loss with Tomlin being the face of the team’s issues.
“I think hands down it, it was the coaching,” Fittipaldo told 93.7 The Fan’s Donny Chedrick on the Joe Starkey Show Friday morning. “And I’m sure we’re gonna get into some of the personnel decisions and some of those fourth down calls, but I thought overall Mike Tomlin showed the Browns a lack of respect early in that game.”
Fittipaldo referenced Tomlin’s early decision to attempt a 58-yard field goal despite less-than-ideal weather conditions. While the Browns’ stadium had yet to turn into a snow globe, there was still gusty winds and rain coming down. Boswell’s kick missed wide right for only his second failed attempt of the season. Both have been from long-range after missing a 62-yarder at the end of the half against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3.
Cleveland got the ball back in great field position, taking over at their own 48. Pittsburgh’s defense stood tall and forced a three-and-out, winning early series that negated the Browns quality starting territory.
But that was hardly Tomlin’s only questionable decision. He opted against using his final timeout following a Cleveland third down run late in the first half, allowing 42 seconds to come off the clock. Pittsburgh preserved their final timeout but got the ball back with just 40 seconds left in the half. It ended in a Myles Garrett sack, his third of the half.
Tomlin chose to accept a 5-yard penalty late in the game, turning a would-be 4th and 2 into a 3rd and 7 all while using his second timeout in the process. Cleveland converted, used more clock, and put the ball in the end zone to go up 24-19 with less than a minute to play. Pittsburgh moved into Cleveland territory but ran out of time, a desperate Hail Mary not even close to converting.
“I think Mike Tomlin probably should have approached that game in a much different manner,” Fittipaldo said.
Tomlin’s made poor decisions in two of the Steelers’ three losses this season. Against the Indianapolis Colts, he made repeated head-scratching calls with clock management and personnel choices. It’s hard to win games when your players don’t play well. When coaching only joins the roster in the mud, winning feels impossible.
