Steelers' Mike Tomlin Certainly Handed The Cowboys The Winning Play With Final Timeout

The Pittsburgh Steelers' loss to the Dallas Cowboys during Week 5 was frustrating and confusing. After starting the season 3-0, Justin Fields and the Steelers dropped the game against the Indianapolis Colts. However, the fact that Fields performed so well, nearly bringing them back from a loss, gave fans the sense of a "moral victory," giving hope that the offense was improving. 

The loss to the Cowboys dashed hope that the offense was improving. While many blame Fields, there is lots of room for blame, starting with Head Coach Mike Tomlin. In the aftermath of the loss, Tomlin was criticized for questionable play-calling. The Black and Gold ran such a conservative offensive scheme the past few weeks that it was frustrating to watch. Despite being down at times, the coaches refused to allow Fields to take some chances. 

The play-calling isn't the only thing Tomlin was getting questioned about. During his postgame press conference, he was asked about the questionable decision to call a timeout near the end of the game in Week 5. The Steelers had mounted an earlier comeback and were up 17-13, but Dallas engineered a game-winning drive. With only :26 seconds left, the Cowboys were facing a fourth and goal. Instead of trusting his defense, Tomlin called a timeout. After the game, Tomlin said they were just trying to get in the right formation to stop the Cowboys, but apparently, they allowed Dallas to make adjustments that gave them the win, according to their Head Coach Mike McCarthy at his press conference. 

"We were just watching the communication, probably no different than they were doing," shared McCarthy. "We call it a Kodak, you know take a picture of the formation. Common knowledge is to maybe make the offensive guy go through the second call. So I was in between two calls there. Liked the information that we saw when they called the timeout, so I actually changed the call there for the fourth down call and you know Dak [Prescott] just did a great job. I wanted a little more protection, we had a chip on T.J. Watt there. It's a play that we run a lot, practice a lot, and he had great patience, and J.T. [Jalen Tolbert] did a great job putting that ball in that front pylon."

As McCarthy indicated, Dallas scored a touchdown, making it 20-17. The Steelers hardly had time left to mount a comeback; in that situation, having a timeout would have made all the difference. 

Tomlin has clearly stated that his plan to win games rests solely with the defense, not his offense. The way he wasted timeouts they could have used fully supports that notion. While the defense fell short of stopping Dallas, expecting them to play so many snaps is also unreasonable. The Steelers won the turnover battle, but the Cowboys won time of possession, and Pittsburgh's defense just couldn't make a big stand without any rest, especially considering their many injuries.

Steelers' Mike Tomlin Was Extra Cryptic

Tomlin is well known for his quippy sayings and his tendency to be less than forthcoming with information. However, he was even more cryptic than usual after the Dallas game. It wasn't just his vague explanation about the timeouts, it also had to do with the reduction in snaps that wide receiver George Pickens played. 

Pickens has been controversial during his time in the Steel City, and often called a diva. His play in the Cowboys game dropped markedly; he had only three catches for 26 yards, while running back Najee Harris had more receiving yards than Pickens. 

Tomlin said that they reduced his snaps to increase his productivity. This did not go over well with Pickens, who was witnessed acting frustrated on the sidelines. This kind of behavior can become a cancer on a team and seems to have alienated Pickens from his teammates.  

What did you think about Tomlin calling that final timeout? Was it a mistake or is this Monday morning quarterbacking? Click to comment below. 

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