Steelers choked
The Steelers, not the refs, are to blame for the loss to the Patriots
Blaming the refs is misguided, and the Steelers should look in the mirror when searching for someone to blame. New England deserves credit for making the plays necessary to win, too, but, frankly, the Steelers had the game won and choked.
It should never have come down to the controversial play in the first place. Even after that play, the Steelers had a chance to win and couldn’t score in two more plays from inside the 5. It wasn’t the refs who forced Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to make an idiotic decision to force a ball to a covered receiver to end the game with an unnecessary interception.
That sequence is overlooked, mostly because it takes away from the idea that the Steelers were robbed. True to form, Roethlisberger explained that the call came from the sidelines — so, in his standard passive-aggressive way of deflecting blame, he threw offensive coordinator Todd Haley under the bus.
Roethlisberger said after the game he wanted to spike the ball but Haley chimed in and told him to run a play. So, he ran a play, and the result was his game-ending interception. Roethlisberger’s story is fishy to begin with. He always wants to go for the score, always wants to be aggressive and always wants to play to win. Yet now, we’re supposed to believe that, with the game on the line and the chance to be a hero, he all of the sudden wanted to defer to Chris Boswell and go to overtime?
Even if we accept that explanation, it still wasn’t Haley’s fault Roethlisberger stared Eli Rogers down and threw the ball into triple coverage. Even if he was forced to run a play, all he had to do was throw the ball out of the back of the end zone once he saw Rogers wasn’t open. He didn’t, and that was the end of the game.
Haley and/or Tomlin have to share some of the blame for their ultra-conservative play-calling earlier in the fourth quarter. The Steelers had the ball and a 24-16 lead. A holding penalty on Alejandro Villanueva put the Steelers in second-and-20 from their own 28, and rather than try to get a first down, the Steelers basically gave up on the drive. They ran the ball up the middle twice for 5 yards, then Roethlisberger threw a short, safe pass to Martavis Bryant for 6 yards. The Steelers were forced to punt.
That sequence gave the Patriots an opening. Yes, first-and-20 is challenging, but Roethlisberger is a Hall of Famer, so why not let him try to get the first down? A first down at that point probably means the Steelers win and nobody is talking about James and the non-catch catch.
The Steelers’ defensive play-calling on the Patriots’ winning drive was atrocious, too. Why was Sean Davis given the assignment of trying to cover Rob Gronkowski with no help at the most critical point in the game?
Brady said after the game the Steelers were being aggressive and trying to challenge the Patriots, which allowed Gronkowski the single-coverage looks he was getting. Why, at that point in the game, did the Steelers decide to be aggressive and gamble?
The Steelers dominated the Patriots for about 52 minutes, but then in the final eight minutes they lost their minds and blew the game. That’s why the focus on referees and a single play is ridiculous. That focus takes away from the Patriots making plays to win and lets the Steelers off the hook for poor decisions, bad plays and questionable coaching down the stretch.
You can blame the refs all you want if it makes you feel better, but you’re fooling yourself. This loss is squarely on the Steelers’ shoulders.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...-playoff-picture-seeding/stories/201712180111
