With everything at stake, Tomlin dropped the ball

Whether it worked or not, Mike Tomlin's decision to run a fake punt late in Sunday's lost to New Orleans was the wrong call. It didn't work (Photo creds to Steelers Wire)

By Joe Smeltzer

Mike Tomlin has won a lot of games.

He doesn't have as many wins as he should mind you, but he's won more than most NFL coaches, and not counting playoff games, obviously, Sunday was shaping up to be the biggest of his career.

Antonio Brown's reach across the goal line on Christmas Day two years ago was iconic, and the two wins over Tom Brady, in 2011 and 2018, were downright sweet, but for the Steelers to save their season with a win in the famous Superdome against the best team in the NFL would have topped them all.

For roughly 56 minutes, Pittsburgh played its best game of the season, and was on its way to closing the deal, holding a four-point lead in late in the fourth quarter. Then, 4th and 5 happened, and Tomlin put the game, and probably the season, in the hands of a fullback.

No disrespect to Roosevelt Nix. Nix does his job well, but his description shouldn't include having to run for any more than two or three yards. Tomlin trusted him to get five, and contrary to Nix's absurd celebration, it didn't work. When the chips were down, Tomlin trusted Nix to run and Tyler Matakevich to block, and as a result, the Steelers probably aren't going to the playoffs.

I'm by no means qualified to coach Pop Warner, let alone in the NFL. If  it were up to me, however, I would have punted. Pittsburgh's defense had played a great second half, getting pressure on Drew Brees and stifling the Saints attack, so I don't think relying on Keith Butler's unit to make one more big stop would have been out of reach.

At the same time, the idea that the Steelers should have stayed on the field when they were reasonably close to four down territory isn't asinine. In fact, it's logical. If Tomlin relied on the best QB/WR duo in the NFL today and maybe of all time to pick up five yards instead of putting the ball in the hands of a guy who's best known for his duties on kick coverage and goal-line sets, the decision would have been criticized had it not worked out. In that case, however, I think reasonable people would have at least understood the coach's thought process regardless of the outcome.

What Tomlin decided to do is indefensible, and he must be held accountable.

Aside from that blunder and allowing Steven Ridley to be on the field in the fourth quarter,  Tomlin wasn't horrible in New Orleans. The Steelers were ready to play from the outset, and that's a reflection of the head coach. With the Saints driving late in the game, Tomlin used his timeouts wisely and left the Steelers roughly a minute and a half to score, which they may well have done  if not for JuJu Smith-Schuster's fatal fumble (bless his heart).

Even the calls Tomlin got right, however, are frustrating to a degree. Let's go back to Oakland for a second.

When the ball kicked off in the Superdome, the Steelers were focused. Yet the lowly Raider marched 74 yards down the field for a touchdown on the game's opening drive. With the game on the line against the Saints, Tomlin used his timeouts wisely, yet saved them in a similar spot against the Raiders. If the Steelers team we saw in New Orleans showed up in Oakland, or if Tomlin wasn't stupid enough to keep Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines for almost the whole second half, they'd be on the verge of their fourth division title in five years.

Instead, they lost to an awful team, and as a result, needed to beat an elite team in their backyard. While the players are at fault for the Oakland game and all aspects of what looks to be an epic collapse, the fact that they weren't ready to play from the outset against possibly the worst team in the NFL is a reflection of the head coach.

The fact that Sunday's game had such high stakes for the Steelers was ridiculous. Nonetheless, Tomlin's biggest regular-season win was right there, but a dumb decision opened the floodgates and ultimately, that chance disappeared like beer on Bourbon Street. Now, the Steelers must put their faith in young Baker Mayfield for them to make the playoffs.

A lot of people deserve heat for the way the season has gone off the rails, so Tomlin obviously isn't alone. Butler isn't good enough. Neither is special teams coach Danny Smith, but if a head coach is blamed for the shortcomings of his players, the same should go for his staff, so their mistakes are, in a way, his mistakes.

Regardless of what happens next Sunday, Tomlin won't get fired, and I still don't think he should. The case against him, however, is stronger than it ever was, and Sunday's blunder was another example of why Tomlin is possibly the most polarizing figure in Pittsburgh sports.