The Steelers survived a furious comeback attempt that was made possible by miscues and lapses on both sides of the ball
When I mentioned earlier in the discussion that the Steelers survived the game, I was not exaggerating. I think it’s important to state this again: We were up 14 points heading into the fourth quarter and it took a game-winning FG to eke out a victory. That’s too close for comfort if you ask me.
The aforementioned fumble by McCloud could have been catastrophic, but I question why he opted to even try to return it. Had he just called for the fair catch, we would have had the ball, could have taken some time off the clock, and could have possibly extended our then 10-point lead.
To me, that is where coaching has to come into play. Mike Tomlin or Danny Smith should have told McCloud to just fair catch the ball. Obviously, ‘hindsight is twenty-twenty vision’, but at that moment in the game, the ball should have been fair caught.
Couple that fumble with the 75-yard drive that gave the Bears the lead late in the fourth quarter, you have to wonder what was being called on the defensive side of the ball during that drive. The Steelers ‘D’ imploded and were bailed out by the offense, then redeemed themselves on the final drive of the game.
I am a Tomlin supporter, but I am not a supporter of making a game that should have been an easy victory, no offense intended toward the Bears and their fans, into a ‘nail-bitter’. Especially if it’s because we leave our corners on an island with no safety help over the top or because we don’t help ‘chip’ on the left side of the ‘O-line” where we have a rookie starting at left tackle.
With all that said, we won and that’s all that matters until we lose as a result of said miscues and lapses.