Good Thing Tomlin Punted from the 34

[stillwright]

Inconsequential. Kind of like the 14 yards of field position gained after another ****** dingle-Berry punt.

You've got one special teams guy who's kicking the **** out of the ball on kickoffs, and making all of his field goal and extra point attempts. Then you've got another guy with zero confidence, can't punt for ****, you have no idea what you're going to get, so you put him out there and pray for maybe 25 yards in field position, best-case scenario? Nah. I'll take my chances with a guy I can count on to most likely put me up by 7.

Can't really remember which game it was at this point, but something close to this same scenario played out in almost exactly the same fashion in an earlier game this season. And guess what? Berry put it in the end zone that time, too. So much for learning from your mistakes.

So the punt bothered you that much that you have to cry about it endlessly for 4 pages? Really? I thought we had a good shot at winning as the game went on. At no point did I think that punting in that spot was going to be the reason we lost. Hell. I'm sure if we would of went for the FG and missed you would be bitching we should of punted it in a defensive minded game. To each their own I guess.

 

[Steel G]

How did the kick from Boswell look later in the same quarter, same end?

The one that was 5 yards shorter? Pretty good.

 

[topseed]

Yes inconsequential. The half was over. Pittsburgh was not getting the ball at the 41 yard line if they missed.

I agreed with you. Do you agree that 14 yards is also inconsequential?

 

[topseed]

So the punt bothered you that much that you have to cry about it endlessly for 4 pages? Really? I thought we had a good shot at winning as the game went on. At no point did I think that punting in that spot was going to be the reason we lost. Hell. I'm sure if we would of went for the FG and missed you would be bitching we should of punted it in a defensive minded game. To each their own I guess.

Yes, it did bother me. Three points there greatly affects how the rest of the game plays out. But please, show me where I said that punting in that spot was the ONLY reason the Steelers lost.

And, no, I wouldn't have been bitching about a field goal attempt there, made or missed, because it would have been the proper call. But you can feel free to cry some more about the length of my discussion, if it makes you feel better.

 

[topseed]

The one that was 5 yards shorter? Pretty good.

Yeah, that's the one. Almost dead center, hit about 15 feet up on the net. Would have been good from at least 10 yards deeper. Imagine that.

 

[steelcan58]

I agreed with you. Do you agree that 14 yards is also inconsequential?

It was worse case scenario save a blocked punt. Opinions will vary. Mine is our defense was playing well and pinning Denver deep was the correct move. That fg that denver kicked at the half took a sharp right turn as it went through the uprights. A 52 yard fg was far from a sure thing even with a hot kicker. I've ragged Tomlin as much as anyone when I think he screws up. Any coaching decision can be second guessed if it goes wrong. I do understand where you are coming from. I just happen to believe giving Denver great field position at that time would have swung the game their way where the punt did not. As it turned out the fumble swung the game their way later anyway.

 

[topseed]

It was worse case scenario save a blocked punt. Opinions will vary. Mine is our defense was playing well and pinning Denver deep was the correct move. That fg that denver kicked at the half took a sharp right turn as it went through the uprights. A 52 yard fg was far from a sure thing even with a hot kicker. I've ragged Tomlin as much as anyone when I think he screws up. Any coaching decision can be second guessed if it goes wrong. I do understand where you are coming from. I just happen to believe giving Denver great field position at that time would have swung the game their way where the punt did not. As it turned out the fumble swung the game their way later anyway.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. And I'm frankly surprised to see that so many people thought this was the proper move.

Boswell has been reliable all season, in any type of weather conditions. Berry has not. As far as field position, Denver had already started 4 drives on their own 41 or better, including two well into Steelers territory, and only managed a total of 5 first downs and 9 points. Worst-case scenario, you give them the ball out past their 40 for a fifth time, and still play with the lead. Best case scenario, you put the points on the board that allow you to go up by 4 and have a chance at the end.

I just happen to believe that Tomlin "living in his fear" of missing a long field goal was a mistake. And I agree...the fumble was the true momentum-buster and back-breaker. But again, that's an error made on the field, not on the sideline.

 

[DBS1970]

I'm pretty Happy with Mr Tomlins decisions in this game. The punt was the right choice in that gusting wind.

 

[Steel G]

The end line for me is this, they needed another TD badly in that game. One more 3 wasn't going to do it, two more 3s wasn't either. Also, their defense didn't do what it had normally been doing this year, they did not get a turnover. With Brown being out, we knew this would be the case, the D would have to step up. And for the most part, they played admirable. But what we kind of forgot or didn't realize, at least for me, was how badly the return game would suffer with the loss of Brown. With them unable to flip field position, a defensive turnover was desperately needed, and they didn't get one.

 

[madtacker]

If Gilbert doesn't get arse raped on that sack and grab face mask we don't even have this conversation.
Then we lose another 5 yds. After that. We were driving on that series and that one play killed everything.

Get the ball back and start driving deep in Denver territory again and fumble.

Its up to the players to make plays. Tomlin to me was a non factor.

 

[Stlrs4Life]

And then if Bos misses cause it's windy as hell.. people would be bitching because Tomlin gave them the ball at midfield.

The game was not lost on that decision so it's stupid to even bring up.. but I guess when you want to ***** about Tomlin, you need to find something.

Exactly. He made the right decision there.

 

[hook]

I've been as hard on Tomlin as anybody, but the decision to punt was the right one. If the wind wasn't blowing 18 mph I think he would have attempted a FG. Punting there didn't lose the game. If you are blaming the loss on that decision, you are really reaching.

 

[mdk2]

The end line for me is this, they needed another TD badly in that game. One more 3 wasn't going to do it, two more 3s wasn't either. Also, their defense didn't do what it had normally been doing this year, they did not get a turnover. With Brown being out, we knew this would be the case, the D would have to step up. And for the most part, they played admirable. But what we kind of forgot or didn't realize, at least for me, was how badly the return game would suffer with the loss of Brown. With them unable to flip field position, a defensive turnover was desperately needed, and they didn't get one.

Will Gay was so close to getting that INT... damnit.

 

[steelhurt]

Man I don't know about anyone else here but when Toussant fumbled that brought back the nightmare of Mendenhall's fumble against the Packers in the SB that killed our momentum. I really think you take both those fumbles away we win both those games.

 

[Steel G]

Will Gay was so close to getting that INT... damnit.

Yep, that would have been the one they needed. Gotta credit Sanders for getting his arm in there, as much as it pains me to say.

 

[mdk2]

Yep, that would have been the one they needed. Gotta credit Sanders for getting his arm in there, as much as it pains me to say.

No question, it was arguably the biggest play of the drive for them.

 

[Stainless]

I just read an article about the five biggest coaching mistakes from the weekend. Per the article, we were the proud owners of two. Going deep on fourth & 1 on our second drive and punting from the 34 in lieu of trying a FG. I wondered why we didn't try a fg on our second drive and eventually just chalked it up to the wind.

 

[SteelerFan448]

I just read an article about the five biggest coaching mistakes from the weekend. Per the article, we were the proud owners of two. Going deep on fourth & 1 on our second drive and punting from the 34 in lieu of trying a FG. I wondered why we didn't try a fg on our second drive and eventually just chalked it up to the wind.

If only the first one was a coaching mistake instead of the lack of execution by the players. The punt wouldn't have been a bad call if Berry put it at the five.

 

[mightyguru]

The bad punt didn't lose the game...insane injuries, dropped passes, **** no-calls and a single fumble.

 

[Steel G]

I just read an article about the five biggest coaching mistakes from the weekend. Per the article, we were the proud owners of two. Going deep on fourth & 1 on our second drive and punting from the 34 in lieu of trying a FG. I wondered why we didn't try a fg on our second drive and eventually just chalked it up to the wind.

Nah. If you really want to get on Tomlin for bad coaching decisions, it would be the ones earlier in the season that lead to the Steelers choking away a couple winnable games (i.e., both Raven games) which would have given them a 12-4 record, the division title, a free pass to the divisional round, and a home game, possibly against that same old and busted Manning. As it is, the calls in yesterday's game weren't all that bad given the circumstances. He was trying to work with what he had.