Mike Tomlin Blames Everyone But Himself For Steelers' Loss To Patriots
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- You knew by the start of the second quarter that Sunday wasn't going to be Mike Tomlin's best day. The Steelers head coach made a mind-numbingly bad challenge on a Rob Gronkowski catch on just the Patriots' third possession of the game, a play in which Gronkowski's elbow hit the ground at least a full second before the Steelers knocked the ball loose. Anyone just glancing at the Heinz Field video screen knew Gronk was down by contact.
Tomlin essentially took one of his timeouts and tossed it on the field. It ultimately didn't affect the Steelers at the end of the half, as they used two timeouts to help kicker Chris Boswell make a field goal to cut the Patriots' halftime lead to 14-10. But it was a sign that Tomlin had an off day calling plays, perhaps an off week getting his team ready for the game.
Still, Tomlin went and blamed everyone but himself after the Patriots left Heinz Field with a 27-16 victory.
"We realized that our margin for error was minimal. We left some red zone possessions out there offensively, we threw an interception when we were down there, we missed a field goal ... you can't do that against good people," said Tomlin in his postgame press conference. "On the other side, we didn't come off blocks or make enough tackles in the run game."
None of that is necessarily wrong, but at no point did Tomlin say anything resembling, "I've got to coach better." That's all he would have needed to say not to come off like he passed the buck to his players - especially Boswell, who missed a 54-yard field goal with just 9:05 left in the fourth quarter.
The situation looked like a clear time to go for it on fourth down. The Steelers were running out of time and had struggled to stop the run for most of the game. You'd think one of their playmakers could pick up three yards. That didn't feel like a daunting task compared to trying a long field goal in that spot.
But when asked about whether he even considered going for it on fourth down, Tomlin said, "I did not."
The coach only made it worse when he added: "[Boswell] made a similar kick over a year ago right there in that same spot in the same field when we trotted him out. And the weather conditions were worse than they were tonight. We were down there, we had an opportunity to make it a one-score game. We took that chance."
This is where Tomlin could take a page out of the Bill Belichick playbook. Something like "Every decision we make is what we feel is best for the football team." Instead, he tacitly threw all of the blame for that crucial play on the kicker.
After taking over on downs off of Boswell's miss, the Patriots did ultimately punt the ball back to the Steelers. But they did shave another two minutes off the clock and the Steelers never got as close as the Patriots' 36-yard line for the rest of the game.
Tomlin has taken accountability for his coaching mistakes after games in the past, but on Sunday, he failed to do so when the situation called for it. There's no question that the players could not capitalize on several opportunities to seize control of the game, but at some point, it has to go back to the coaching staff. It was a bad look for a coach whom only appears to New England fans as a serial excuse-maker whenever the Patriots beat his team. Well, this time, at least he didn't blame the headsets.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
