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Though the head football coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers may look a little different than George Bailey from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, Mike Tomlin is in need of his own “Clarence the Angel” (Cleveland version) to get into the NFL Playoffs next weekend.
Pittsburgh’s coach gambled and lost late in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon in a pivotal game against the New Orleans Saints in the Crescent City.
With the Steelers clinging to a 28-24 lead with four minutes to go and facing a fourth down and five yards to go at the Pittsburgh’s own 37 yard line, Coach Tomlin opted for a fake punt(?!!!).
The play didn’t work, and the Steelers handed the ball to Saints future Hall-of-Famer quarterback Drew Brees. A Saints touchdown in the last few minutes was as certain as Jack Nicklaus sinking a five foot putt to win a major golf tournament.
Money in the bank. The Saints scored a touchdown with ninety seconds left to take a 31-28 lead over Pittsburgh.
Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers into potential game-tying field goal position with thirty seconds to go. Unfortunately, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbled at the Saints 35-yard-line after catching a Roethlisberger pass. The Saints recovered the football.
Game over.
The New Orleans Saints clinched the home field advantage in the NFC, while Pittsburgh heads back home needing a Christmas week miracle to get into the AFC playoffs.
To get into the playoffs, Pittsburgh now needs a little favor from their bitter AFC Central rivals along the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland. The Browns must travel to Baltimore AND defeat the Ravens next Sunday afternoon for the Steelers to have a playoff chance.
Meanwhile, the Steelers will still need to take care of business at Heinz Field and defeat the hapless Cincinnati Bengals.
Both games will kick-off next Sunday simultaneously at 3:25PM Central as CBS adds some late afternoon drama by covering both games to pique the interest of fans across the nation.
Baltimore controls its own destiny. If the Ravens win, they dethrone the Steelers as AFC Central champions. There is nothing sweeter for Ravens fans than keeping the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the playoffs.
What is Cleveland’s motivation? With a record of 7-7-1, the Browns can finish 2018 with their first winning season since their 10-6 campaign in 2007. After going 0-16 in 2017 and 1-15 in 2016, the Browns are definitely trending in the right direction again.
Pittsburgh can blame no one but themselves for being in this position.
More specifically, Coach Mike Tomlin should take the blame for the loss by calling a fake punt on his own side of the fifty yard line – on the road – late in the fourth quarter.
Gutsy? Perhaps, but Steelers fans were already looking for a good reason to send Tomlin packing after several years of underachieving teams.
Coach Tomlin will need a visit from “Clarence of Cleveland”, a most unlikely of AFC Central guardian angels, to get his Steelers into the playoffs and, perhaps, to retain his job.