With 2:01 left in their Thursday night matchup with the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers had fourth-and-2 from their own 49-yard line. Down 21-18, they needed to get within field goal range (at worst) to tie the game.
Instead of a high-percentage play, the call was for a backside fade throw from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to receiver Diontae Johnson. The Steelers had no quick options to the sideline — receiver Allen RObinson and tight end Pat Freiermuth were running stuff over the middle — and given that the two-minute warning was coming up, maybe they get a pass for that one. But you need an easy completion and conversion for your inconsistent quarterback here, not one of the toughest throws in any quarterback’s arsenal. Johnson did get far enough away from cornerback Jonathan Jones to bring the ball in, but again, this is a VERY tough throw to make, and Trubisky couldn’t do it.
Pittsburgh does NOTHING but run the ball on 1st & 10 and 2nd & long
then they get to use the 2:00 warning as a free timeout with 3rd & 2 or 4th & 2 and don't try to run the ball once
play calling never makes any sense out of the Steelers
it's horrible
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 8, 2023
“It was,” head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game, when asked if Johnson was the primary read on that play. “We were down there. We play to win. We wanted to be aggressive. We just didn’t get it done.”
Trubisky told a slightly different story.
We had multiple options. The safety [Jabrill Peppers] was favoring GP [George Pickens, to the other side]. I liked the one-on-one with Diontae. I felt like I could throw a better ball.”
Well, Peppers was probably cheating to Pickens because Pickens is by far the team’s best fade and contested catch receiver, but we digress.
Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward was also asked about the decision.
“Go for it. I’m not running from it. You know, he wanted to see his playmaker make a play. Didn’t make it; so be it. As defense I look at like, man, we shouldn’t have been in that situation. You know, 18 points is plenty, and 21 is way too much.”
21 is certainly way too much when you bust on 18.