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Mike Tomlin Got Away With A Horrible Play-Call Because Le'Veon Bell Is Awesome

BOSTON (CBS) -- Mike Tomlin looks like a genius today.

Key words "looks like", because the result of his play-call at the end of Monday Night Football secured a 24-20 win for the Pittsburgh Steelers over the San Diego Chargers. With a chance to take an easy field goal and send the game to overtime, Tomlin instead tried to go for the end zone with his offense on the 1-foot line, knowing he had a timeout in his back pocket in case they couldn't punch it in.

All-World back Le'Veon Bell almost got taken down before scoring, but fought for the extra yardage and barely broke the plane before time expired and his knee hit the ground, making Tomlin look like he just made the ballsiest play-call in MNF history.

While the call did take some serious chutzpah, the specific play Tomlin called was absolutely moronic. It was a classic "If you succeed you're a genius, if you fail you're an idiot" situation, but Tomlin was instead an idiot no matter how you analyze the play.

The Steelers offense was lined mere inches from the end zone, yet decided to go with a Wildcat play and a direct snap to Bell, who lined up 6 yards out. The play forced Bell to fight through multiple would-be tacklers, including the one that fullback Roosevelt Nix couldn't block effectively, and he almost couldn't reach out far enough to nudge the nose of the football across the plane of the goal line.

How they ran any play other than one requiring the quarterback under center is mind-boggling. The call was a win for the "You need the ball in Bell's hands" people, and that's understandable - if you need a yard, you give the ball to your best guy, and that is not Michael Vick.

But I find it hard to believe Vick couldn't have pulled off a QB sneak, whether by pushing forward with the offensive line or the ol' "QB leap and stick the ball over the goal line" play that Tom Brady pulled off in the 2011 AFC Championship game. Hell, Bell could have tried that play!

If Tom Brady can leap like this, so can Michael Vick. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Those plays likely would have gotten the Steelers the touchdown anyway, and if they failed they could have still called their final timeout and gone for the game-tying field goal. Tomlin laid everything on the line on a call that made his team gain 6 more yards than it needed to.

But hey, that's why Tomlin is the actual coach on the sideline and I'm just a jackass with a keyboard and an opinion. It's easy to say at my computer chair with the video on repeat on the monitor and say Tomlin made a bad call. He deserves credit for having the gall to go for it in the first place, when almost every other coach in the league would have settled for a field goal and overtime. He also deserves credit for putting the ball in the hands of his best player and trusting him to deliver. Bell is such an amazing back that even with iffy blocking he was able to scrounge for the few extra inches he needed.

But that doesn't change the fact that Tomlin got away with an idiotic play call that was a half-block away from getting blown up and costing them the game. Tomlin is lucky he's not fielding questions about the play that immediately became the most infamous call of his career. He may look like a genius, but he's still a moron.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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