The ‘Week 12 Mike Tomlin criticism party’ was beginning to conclude, until former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw his name into the hat of those questioning Tomlin’s strange coaching decisions against the Cleveland Browns.
On Roethlisberger’s podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, the former QB highlighted Tomlin’s fourth-down decisions in particular: “Did he ever consider punting on some of those fourth downs, or just trying to flip the field? You know, like let’s play the field position game, because there were times going for it on fourth down, going for a long field goal, you gave them the field position.”
Roethlisberger’s criticisms ring true, as if Pittsburgh had punted on some of the fourth downs, the Steelers might have improved to 9-2 on the season after last week’s Thursday Night Football game.
While Tomlin’s risks and questionable decisions may never truly satisfy Steelers fans, one can only wonder if the threat posed by the Cincinnati Bengals may be enough to shock Tomlin’s decision-making into shape.
