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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Curt Popejoy

Mike Tomlin said Steelers took ball 1st vs Rams to protect the defense

Typically when a team wins the toss, they will defer to the second half, the other team takes the football and life moves forward. But when the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Pittsburgh chose to take the football after winning the toss.

On Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the curious decision to put his offense on the field. According to Tomlin, it was done to protect his defense was dealing with Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford after 13 days off.

The decision delayed the Steelers defense by only mere moments as the Steelers offense showed off its first-quarter ineptitude with yet another three-and-out.

The Steelers used a huge fourth-quarterback comeback by quarterback Kenny Pickett to pull off a big 24-17 upset win over Los Angeles.

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