Steelers coach Mike Tomlin found himself having to defend several decisions he made in Sunday’s pulsating comeback victory in Jacksonville, even though he made the correct call in each instance that was being questioned.
Tomlin was asked at his weekly news conference on Tuesday why he accepted a third-down offensive holding penalty against the Jaguars instead of forcing them into a fourth-and-2 from their own 34. The Jaguars were leading 9-0 early in the third quarter at the time.
He was also asked why he didn’t use one of his three remaining timeouts before the two-minute warning after the Jaguars started their final drive with 2:22 remaining.
In each instance, his decision had a lot to do with the Jaguars’ reliance on running back Leonard Fournette, who had rushed for 74 yards in the first half, and not quarterback Blake Bortles.
“I knew why they avoided third-and-long; that’s why I took the penalty,” Tomlin said regarding the third-down holding penalty. “You saw what happened when they snapped that ball. That team was working extremely hard to stay on schedule. We needed splash plays to provide our offense potentially a short field in an effort to win the game. We weren’t going to get splash plays on third-and-2, so you move them back to 3rd-and-10 and you get after them and maybe you sack-fumble them, maybe you pick it. I’m not apologizing for that.”
The Steelers nearly delivered a splash play. Bortles was strip-sacked on third-and-12 from his 24 by linebacker T.J. Watt, but the Jaguars recovered the fumble and punted from their own 13.
The Steelers held the Jaguars to three-and-outs on their final four possessions, including the last one that began at the Jacksonville 25 with 2:22 remaining. Tomlin did not use one of his three timeouts after Fournette ran for 4 yards, preferring to wait until after the two-minute warning. The Jaguars were leading 16-13 at the time.
But he used one on each of the next two plays, the latter after Fournette gained 1 yard on third-and-5, stopping the clock with 1:50 remaining.
“I knew they were going to run the ball on third down, so I wanted to save a timeout because that’s how the game had unfolded for them,” Tomlin said. “Some people are going to throw the ball on third down and try to win the game right there. I knew they were going to run the ball on third down right there, so if we stopped them, I knew the clock would be running and I would need a timeout.”
Tomlin was not only right in both instances, he was downright prophetic.
“I understand that minutia. I understand how what we do is evaluated in today’s ball,” Tomlin said. “There are too many talk shows and things of that nature not to analyze it in that way, but I do not care. I’m trying to win. A year ago, we were in a shootout. I onside-kicked them. This time around we weren’t in a shootout, I kicked it deep. I look at what I do in stadiums to win and I’m going to aggressively pursue victory for this football team.”
Tomlin was asked if he would have gone for the win on fourth down or kicked the tying field goal if Ben Roethlisberger did not score on his 1-yard run with five seconds remaining.
“We’ll never know, will we,” Tomlin said. “I might be in that situation again. Just know that we were dually prepared for whatever.”
What to expect
Tomlin said the Steelers were able to come back from a 16-0 deficit in Jacksonville in part because his players knew it was going to be a tough matchup.
“We knew that they were a matchup issue for us in a lot of ways,” he said. “We had been in too many stadiums with them in recent times not to have that level of understanding. I relayed that to the guys and the game unfortunately unfolded in the manner of which we anticipated. But that anticipation I think allowed us to endure that level of preparedness, that level of preparedness of how the game might unfold. I think that allowed the guys to remain singularly focused in the midst of adversity. It allowed them to respond to that adversity and make the necessary plays.”
Tomlin said the Steelers will play a similar defensive-minded team Sunday in Denver against the 4-6 Broncos. They have held four of the hottest and highest-scoring teams – Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers – under 30 points.
“Don’t expect them to be intimidated by our presence,” Tomlin said.
Injury updates
Tomlin did not sound optimistic right tackle Marcus Gilbert (knee), who has missed the past three games, would be ready to play against the Broncos. Gilbert tried to practice two weeks ago but lasted only one day and hasn’t worked since.
Asked if Gilbert had a setback, Tomlin said, “I wouldn’t describe it as a setback. He’s probably not healing as fast as he or we would like.”
Complicating matters is Gilbert’s backup, Matt Feiler, injured his pectoral muscle in Sunday’s victory in Jacksonville. Feiler finished the game despite the injury, but Tomlin said, “We want to watch him.”
Also, rookie outside linebacker Ola Adeniyi, an undrafted free agent who has been on injured reserve, said on Twitter he will practice on Wednesday when the players return. The Steelers have 21 days to decide if they want to activate him to the 53-man roster or place him back on injured reserve.
“He looked pretty good in the latter part of last week,” Tomlin said. “It might be time for that.”
First Published: November 20, 2018, 5:52 p.m.
