The Onside kick

It was a good call. Even if you kick it deep either way if Jacksonville gets a first down the game is over.
The onside kick gives you an extra chance to get the ball. The problem was the penalty and the short kick. Add those two things up and the ball is an extra ten yards away.

 

It was a horrendous decision. Stop defending Tomlin.

 

Nah, I think they should have kicked off.

That onsides kick already put them in field goal range.

 

I'm not necessarily defending Tomlin. The could fire him today and I wouldn't care.

 

You would have called him a genius if it had worked! The defense wasn't stopping anything!

 

It was the right call to do the onside kick. Some people had to many beers or simply can't understand why it was a good decision.

 

Yeah only because of the penalty and the kick was short. Add 10 yards and that field goal was a 55 yarder and they don't even attempt it or miss.

 

the onside kick cost us field position and everything. so did tomlin tell boswell to kick the ball 40 yards downfield at end? what the hell was with that? yes it would be a million to one but why not kick a hard bouncing onside kick and try to recover it in air and lateral. yes. long shot but u tried. play calling was horrendous, especially on both 4th down and 1

 

Horrible decision on the onside kick. Why would you trust THAT defense with a short field if you don't recover? At least give them the longer field and pray for a 3 and out. You need a 3 and out in both situations and the recovering probability is low.

 

It was the wrong call no matter how you slice it. If they got a first they win if we kick it deep. If not we have 1:30 and no timeouts with like 70 yards to go. Doable. But they didn’t even need a first down to win the game. They got 9 yards and kicked the game icing field goal. No chance. They could’ve not gained a single yard and still have been in FG range.

Coaches get fired for crap like that. It was a terrible call, and one that he needs to answer for. Jacksonville was going to run 3 Times then kick. They were going to trust their defense to win the game. Instead Tomlin handed them the game.

We may not have scored to tie it. We might’ve done it tho... let the players decide the outcome. Instead Tomlin decided the outcome and it’s a shame.

 

either way, the call was not communicated very well. Tyler Matakevich didn't even know he was supposed to be in.

 

The 5 yard penalty and 9 yards allowed after the onside kick sealed the game cause it gave them 3 points. It was such a high risk play it made more sense to kick it. Then for us not to use a TO with 2:08 on the clock was mind numbingly stupid.

Ben saved Tomlin's ass all game. Those 2 4th down TD passes were insane... if either of those fail (and they should have) it was a blow out of epic proportions. But some how Ben kept us in the game and the coaches failed to help the team win. Clearly changes need to be made on defense. The D-line was destroyed by the Jags a 2nd time this season. We had 2 weeks to prepare for this and get the D line mentally prepared .

 

This. Our defense was terrible today. Like I said whether you kick it deep or onside you still have to have a 3 and out or the game is over. At least the onside kick gave us an opportunity to recover the ball. Last thing you can have there is a short kick and a penalty.
Had to take the chance based on how bad the D was playing.

 

Just another repeated mistake by the Steelers. They never learn from their mistakes.
Could have been worse I guess...

 

It's simple you kick it deep they are sure to be conservative down on their end....you would of got 2 runs for sure and a conservative call on third down. You stop them like you would need to do anywhere on the field you get good field position.....if you stop them at midfield they pin you deep...

 

and seeing the steelers try these kicks in the past why was it the right call

 

I guess you can say the problem was that we ran a play that we clearly weren't prepared to run. This is the theme of Tomlin's teams since day one. Sloppy, not sharp, and takes un needed risks.

 

Did you watch the same game? When did the defense stop anything?

 

Fair enough. We're all pissed. I still hate the decision.

 

First time for everything

 

It was a poor decision and executed even worse.

 

Absolutely not. They are going to run three times and we had three clock stoppages. You can NOT give them the ball in FG range. The chances of a 3 and out were much better than recovering an onside kick.

 

You're half right. It was awful execution!

 

No. You STILL trust your defense on a long field rather than that atrocious call.

I’m a huge Tomlin fan, but it was absolutely one of the worst calls in his postseason career and fireable if anyone else.