The gentleman who coaches the Steelers again today showed his cluelessness regarding challenges and his general misunderstanding of clock management. And once more, just like the good old days, Ben put together a game-winning drive to save his bacon.
The first challenge on the completion to Switzer was just foolish. The guy was nowhere close to having the first down, and the call had zero chance of being overturned. The non-challenge on Connor's effort was almost as egregious -- that play was clearly a touchdown. Welcome to the Bizzaro world of Mike Tomlin.
So the Steelers end up leading the game by only six points, instead of ten, and here come the Bengals with under two minutes left. They complete a ball on the Steelers' 11-yard line with 1:50 on the clock. Cincinnati has two timeouts left, but those are not really necessary at that point, because they have a first down and all the time they need to get eleven yards. Do the Steelers use one of their three timeouts to stop the clock and preserve some time, just in case the Bengals take the lead? Nah, they let 25 of the remaining 110 ticks of the clock evaporate before the next snap. Luckily, the first down play goes out of bounds, with 1:21 left. The second down play is a run to Mixon...at this point I am actually OK with the fact that he scores, because a) there is still over a minute left, and b) if he were stopped short, I have no confidence that Tomlin would indeed use a timeout.
All right, so Switzer decides to run the ball out of the end zone from two yards deep (which of course he should have been advised by the coaching staff NOT to do), and loses six seconds along with two yards in field position. Somehow, I'm thinking, we're still in decent shape here -- 1:12 on the clock, 3 timeouts left, on the 23, and all they need is a field goal. I'd much rather have 1:43 and 2 timeouts from the 25, but I'll take it. Here we go:
1) First down, 8 yards to JuJu, he's down with 1:06. Use a timeout here, right? Nah, they let NINETEEN seconds bleed away before the next snap.
2) Second down, incomplete, now we're already down to 42 seconds left, and still on the 31.
3) Third down, completion to JuJu for 10 yards, out of bounds, 36 seconds left now, on the 41.
4) First down, incomplete, 33 seconds left.
5) Second down, incomplete, 29 seconds left.
6) Third down, incomplete, holding on the Bengals, now we're down to 22 seconds left, on the 46, still with 3 timeouts left.
7) First down, completion to JuJu for 23 yards to the Bengals' 31, finally use the first timeout with 15 seconds left.
***as an aside, how clutch was JuJu on that last drive???***
8) First down, GREAT inside/outside play call, completion to Brown for 31 yards, touchdown, 10 seconds left...and TWO timeouts left to use, presumably, in the locker room.
Total time mismanagement bailed out by two big plays at the end. No reason whatsoever they should have still been in Pittsburgh territory with only about 20 seconds left.
But yet, no doubt, some will exude praise upon the man for skillfully mastering the clock to take a touchdown lead with only seconds remaining...right, Cope?
The first challenge on the completion to Switzer was just foolish. The guy was nowhere close to having the first down, and the call had zero chance of being overturned. The non-challenge on Connor's effort was almost as egregious -- that play was clearly a touchdown. Welcome to the Bizzaro world of Mike Tomlin.
So the Steelers end up leading the game by only six points, instead of ten, and here come the Bengals with under two minutes left. They complete a ball on the Steelers' 11-yard line with 1:50 on the clock. Cincinnati has two timeouts left, but those are not really necessary at that point, because they have a first down and all the time they need to get eleven yards. Do the Steelers use one of their three timeouts to stop the clock and preserve some time, just in case the Bengals take the lead? Nah, they let 25 of the remaining 110 ticks of the clock evaporate before the next snap. Luckily, the first down play goes out of bounds, with 1:21 left. The second down play is a run to Mixon...at this point I am actually OK with the fact that he scores, because a) there is still over a minute left, and b) if he were stopped short, I have no confidence that Tomlin would indeed use a timeout.
All right, so Switzer decides to run the ball out of the end zone from two yards deep (which of course he should have been advised by the coaching staff NOT to do), and loses six seconds along with two yards in field position. Somehow, I'm thinking, we're still in decent shape here -- 1:12 on the clock, 3 timeouts left, on the 23, and all they need is a field goal. I'd much rather have 1:43 and 2 timeouts from the 25, but I'll take it. Here we go:
1) First down, 8 yards to JuJu, he's down with 1:06. Use a timeout here, right? Nah, they let NINETEEN seconds bleed away before the next snap.
2) Second down, incomplete, now we're already down to 42 seconds left, and still on the 31.
3) Third down, completion to JuJu for 10 yards, out of bounds, 36 seconds left now, on the 41.
4) First down, incomplete, 33 seconds left.
5) Second down, incomplete, 29 seconds left.
6) Third down, incomplete, holding on the Bengals, now we're down to 22 seconds left, on the 46, still with 3 timeouts left.
7) First down, completion to JuJu for 23 yards to the Bengals' 31, finally use the first timeout with 15 seconds left.
***as an aside, how clutch was JuJu on that last drive???***
8) First down, GREAT inside/outside play call, completion to Brown for 31 yards, touchdown, 10 seconds left...and TWO timeouts left to use, presumably, in the locker room.
Total time mismanagement bailed out by two big plays at the end. No reason whatsoever they should have still been in Pittsburgh territory with only about 20 seconds left.
But yet, no doubt, some will exude praise upon the man for skillfully mastering the clock to take a touchdown lead with only seconds remaining...right, Cope?
