It's been 30 years since the Pittsburgh Steelers won a regular-season game in Chicago. Unfortunately, this team is going to have to wait even longer for their next chance to snap this ugly three-decade streak. With a chance to make the game-winning drive, Mike Tomlin made a decision that had the Steelers' fanbase fuming.
With Pittsburgh down 28-31 and needing a game-tying field goal to send the Week 12 contest into overtime, Coach Tomlin elected to punt the ball back to Caleb Williams and the Bears with 2:01 remaining in the game.
This decision showed an utter lack of confidence in the offense (which may have been warranted), but Pittsburgh's chances went down the tubes as soon as the special teams unit came on the field.
To Tomlin's credit, the defense forced a quick three-and-out, but Tomlin was right for the wrong reasons. After using two of their second-half timeouts, Williams foolishly threw the ball out of bounds on third down. Then, a bizarre fake injury from James Pierre on the Bears' punt forced the Steelers to burn their final timeout of the game.
Tomlin put the pressure on the defense, and thankfully, they pulled through. But Mason Rudolph and company got the ball back on their own 20-yard line with just 1:28 remaining and no timeouts. Theoretically, this should have been enough time to get into field goal range for a game-tying score, but Pittsburgh's offense was rushed, and they eventually turned the ball over on downs with just 20 seconds remaining in the game.
The Steelers would go on to lose 28-31. And just like that, there goes their lead in the AFC North.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to get more aggressive to beat good opponents
Mike Tomlin didn't live in his fears the whole game. Credit Tomlin for the Steelers' decision to run a QB sneak on fourth down at midfield, and Arthur Smith's fake QB sneak call to Kenneth Gainwell turned into the play of the game for the offense. But when it mattered most, Tomlin reverted to his old ways.
Unfortunately, the team's lack of aggressiveness extends into Smith's play-calling. Very few route concepts are designed to go over the middle of the field, as the Steelers rely heavily on passes to the flats and skill players making something out of nothing after the catch.
READ MORE: Mason Rudolph exposes the flaw holding the Steelers’ offense back
When the dust settled on Soldier Field in Week 12, Rudolph recorded just 171 yards on 31 pass attempts (5.5 yards per attempt) with a touchdown and an interception.
Despite the Bears being without their top three linebackers and sustaining a handful of injuries during the game, the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't exploit Chicago where they needed to to emerge victorious on the road. There needs to be an entire philosophy shift in Pittsburgh, and it starts with head coach Mike Tomlin.