Still Curtain
FanSided

Steelers power rankings: Tomlin’s gamble pays off

By Tim Weaver

facebooktwitterreddit

It’s pretty hard to top the finish that the Pittsburgh Steelers gave to Monday Night Football. Down by three points with only five seconds to play at the one yard line, most head coaches would make the safe call and take the points to force overtime.

Thank goodness Mike Tomlin isn’t one of them.

Tomlin called #26’s number as he had all game, and Le’Veon Bell came through with a thrilling touchdown as time expired:

That’s the kind of win that does wonders for your playoff chances, and everybody knows it.

Let’s take a look around the media and see where the experts are placing Pittsburgh in their weekly power rankings.

NFL.com: #13

“Give Mike Vick a ton of credit for that scramble late, as well as the throw to Heath Miller at the 1-yard line. Most importantly, Lawrence Timmons saved the game with that third-down pass deflection on theChargers’ preceding drive…”

ESPN: #9

“Since his return to the lineup, Le’Veon Bell has the second-most touches (80) and the third-most yards from scrimmage (409), plus a game-winning score with no time left.”

USA Today: #9

“Wild win out of the Wildcat may ultimately keep Pittsburgh’s wild-card hopes alive. #GoWildPittsburgh”

Fox Sports: #12

“When Roethlisberger returns, the Steelers have potential to be one of the NFL’s most complete teams thanks to the defensive improvements they have made under first-year coordinator Keith Butler.”

Yahoo Sports: #10

“Great win, fun win, and maybe in the fourth quarter Michael Vick finally started to put it together. But I’m pretty sure nobody in Pittsburgh feels too comfortable with the offense, until Ben Roethlisberger returns at least.”

SB Nation: #8

“So, how about that walkoff wildcat run by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell? That’s as ballsy a call by Todd Haley as you may see this season, and it’s a savior for a team that really needed it.”

CBS Sports: #13

“Gutsy call by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to go for it at the end to beat San Diego. They are alive and well.”

Fansided: #9

“The Steelers traveled west to San Diego to face a plucky Chargers team and pulled through in dramatic fashion. After going down early, Pittsburgh chipped away at San Diego and then battled toughly in the fourth quarter to win in the game’s final seconds.”

So, how are we feeling about these rankings?

For my money Pete Prisco is the most off the mark with his #13 ranking, but that’s to be expected because he’s usually wrong about everything all the time.

SB Nation’s number eight ranking would feel right if I could forget how bad Michael Vick looked for three and a half quarters last night and how little faith Todd Haley and Mike Tomlin seemed to have in him. Until Ben Roethlisberger is back this is still a very rag-tag kind of team.

This week I’m going with Yahoo Sports’ #10 ranking as the most accurate.

When Roethlisberger went down it was first thought that he might miss as many as six weeks. Right now the Steelers are holding at .500 with him out of the lineup, and that’s all they need to do to stay in the playoff picture.

More from Still Curtain

Home/Steelers News