Tomlin Deferring in OT

I did a quick glance, and realize this was touched on in other threads, but feel it was important enough and polarizing enough that it deserved it's own thread.

1) I was at the game, and personally loved the call. He touched on it in his post game news conference, but they were pinning us inside the 15 yard line on all the kickoffs, giving us horrible field position.

2) The defense balled out today and the crowd was super hyped, it was the third loudest game I have been to, Last years Patriots game was one and many years ago the Monday Night game on Halloween against the Ravens were the only two louder games.

3) IT FREAKING WOKRED!!!! How in the world can you question it when everything he expected to happen.... did. And started a nice drive that was fumbled away, we were already at the 50 when JuJu fumbled!!!


Come on guys, give the man his due this time.

 

I hated the decision when he made it, but Tomlin was right. Aside from Koch getting off a ridiculous punt, it worked perfectly. The defense did its job and the offense should have had a first down with the ball near midfield after Smith-Schuster's catch. I certainly would have felt good about the Steelers' chances if that had been the case. Smith-Schuster's failure doesn't take away from a decision that absolutely worked.

 

I was 100% behind it. I didn't expect either Lamar or Devlin to drive there team down for a TD on the first possession so I liked the idea of stopping the Ravens and getting the ball and needing only a field goal to win it.. I was confident that Devlin could do that and was about to until, well.. Mr butterfingers showed up again

 

The problem with this logic of kicking it in OT as Tomlin said was because we couldn't get past the 15 yard line on kickoffs. But, but whose fault is that and why hasn't he done something about special teams for years now. Nothing new here...

 

Defending that one decision doesn't mean I'm defending Tomlin. I have been saying he should be fired since the loss to the Raiders last season. Nothing I've seen since has changed my mind. It is at least partially, if not entirely, on him that they kept Butler and Smith around. Both should be long gone by now.

That said, the decision worked.

 

The Ravens did that only once all day, the touchdown drive that ended early in the second quarter. They had also turned it over three times and the Steelers had been absolutely horrible in the return game. I hated the decision when he made it, but Tomlin deserves the credit for getting something right on that decision.

 

That describes Tomlin in a nutshell, always trying to outsmart the system, but only outsmarting himself.

 

It was a great defensive play. Sometimes we need to give the opposition credit when it's due.

 

In the NFL, 52.7 percent of teams winning the overtime coin toss (and receiving) win the game at some point in overtime, according to Ross Tucker of SiriusXM NFL Radio.

That's what I read. Not that much of a disparity from a % stand point. Different variables require different tactics. It was safer to trust in the defense to make a stop than to trust in a rookie QB to drive down the field and score a TD.

If the guy on the other side of the field was Brady then you take chances with offense.

 

I’m curious in the entire NFL history ...

1. How many teams in OT have deferred.
2. How many of those said teams actually won?

 

You're not looking at the entire thing then. If you're going to use the numbers, then you need to look at what had actually happened in-game.

Defense gave up one long drive all day. Tucker was kicking short because there's no threat in the return game. Guaranteed if Brown was back there, they don't kick short. They did the same thing last year. They have the blocking scheme all figured out and play it well.

Devlin had one long drive and you knew Tucker was going to kick it short to make you have to return it. You take the chance that you don't get good field position and give it back to them with good field position off the punt.

Even leaving out that their punter kicked his longest punt of the day with no return it was a good chance to take since the defense was queued in on Baltimore and what they wanted to do.

 

He has to cover it up. He doesn't punch it out if he covers it up and protects it. I get he thought he could break the tackle and get a splash play, but that situation you have to play smart. New set of downs almost at midfield. Even if you don't score, you pin them deep again and have another shot.

 

This is just a case of a coach trying to outsmart conventional wisdom and being thought of brilliant. The thought process of putting the defense which as been playing well is fine, but it's still not a good percentage play. At the end of the day, the decision didn't "work" as the Steelers still lost the game. If the expectation is that the Steelers can score after stopping the Ravens, then why not get the ball and score in the first place. You have a quarterback in the game that actually has an advantage. The Ravens did not game plan for Devlin Hodges, so they have no clue what to prepare for on defense. The element of surprise and shock of having a completely new quarterback in the game can prove to be an asset. Gardner Minshew is playing well. Kyle Allen is playing well. Kyler Murray moves an offense. Jacoby Brissett can move an offense. These aren't amazing names, but are playing well. So the actual issue is that the Steelers themselves had no idea how to use Hodges, unfortunately. That is where preparation and details come in. Just because your 3rd string QB is in the game should not convince a coach to make a bad percentage play. Hodges obviously would have to move the ball in either scenario and he didn't look so bad. Again, probably because the Ravens had no clue how to play him. If you can't get past the 15 yard line on kickoffs, that's coaching. Put in a different return man or run a fake reverse. That's just an excuse to use after the fact. If Big Ben was in the game, would you defer, even if you would be starting at the 15 yard line? Tom Brady in his first Super Bowl against the Rams was expected to hand off and run out the clock and play for overtime as called by John Madden. Again, no one knew what Tom Brady could do. Threw off the Rams. And maybe the Patriots had the Rams game plan, who knows? Lol But again, my point is I'd take the ball first in OT, tell Hodges, "Hey, we may not know what you can do, but again, The Ravens have no idea of what you can do. Let's go do this." In any case, sorry for the long post. My first.

Oh, in regards to JuJu's fumble. The 'great' defensive play to knock the ball out again hides the lack of coaching. What did Humphrey try to do when JuJu scored a Touchdown? If a guy is trying to punch the ball out in an early part of the game, what do you think that player will be doing at some other point in the game? So this 'great' defensive play could have easily been prevented by letting your players know that the Ravens are taking chances to punch that ball out. Maybe mention that to your offensive players handling the ball. That's the difference between coaching the details and not making up an excuse after the fact. The hope is that we'd be saying, Wow, look at JuJu hold on to that ball with that punch attempt. That's the SECOND time Humphrey tried to punch the ball out and wiffed and JuJu got the extra yards to get the Steelers into FG range. And after the game, Tomlin saying, Oh yea, we saw that the Ravens were trying to create turnovers by pulling, punching the ball out, but we coached our guys to hold on to that ball first.

 

It was bang bang play. Great play by the defender.

Juju secured the ball with one arm. There was no time to secure the ball with both hands if that's what you mean.

 

He wasn't trying to out smart anyone. Did you read what I posted in regrad to the %? Really not much different. Sometimes coaches go against percentages based on different game day factors. Sometimes sticking with percentages isn't the logical thing to do. The decision to kick produced the ending outcome expected by the defense.

You want to talk about odds? The odds are against a rookie 3rd srting rookie QB driving a team down the field to score a TD in that situation.

The game was loss by a great defensive play by the Ravens DB.

 

I just explained that having a 3rd string rookie quarterback isn't the end of the world. He's going to have to move the ball in any scenario. Plus there's the advantage of the Ravens having absolutely no idea of what this guy can do. The problem is Mike Tomlin hides his lack of coaching abilities with these 'cute' decisions. Did the Steelers win the game? The fact is that the Steelers lost, so throw percentages out the window. My point is you pat Devlin Hodges on the back and say, you've moved the ball efficiently during the game and let's try to get some plays that you've practiced well and see what you can do. The Ravens have absolutely NO clue what you can do. They didn't game plan for you. I don't give a crap that there's a 3rd string quarterback rookie out there. We've lost many a game to quarterbacks that are below average on last minute touchdown drives. Mike Glennon, Bruce Gradkowski, Jon Kitna to name a few.

The fact remains Hodges would have had to move the ball whether the Steelers got the ball first or second. If you're worried about field position, and you feel your quarterback is going to be so inefficient then that's on your lack of coaching preparation and details. Jacoby Brissett just went into KC and won a game.

This whole "GREAT" play thing is just another excuse. Did I jump up and say wow, great play? I was like "gee whiz, that same guy tried that earlier and now he got lucky...." If JuJu had been coached up properly, you get that second arm around the ball instead of trying to stiff arm or shed the tackler. I'd say it's a great play if that is the FIRST time that had happened in the game. Humphrey tried that on JuJu's first TD for heaven's sake? Just because there wasn't a great play then, doesn't mean you ignore it. And then when it does happen say that it was a GREAT play! That's what coaching is all about. You see the details and then you prevent those negative things from happening. Or you just say great play and eat the loss, right?

 

Nevermind. You are unreasonable. On top of it you are clueless.

 

I get that Hodges would have to move the ball whatever. I don’t see how you can argue field position doesn’t matter, though. That’s not about inefficiency, it’s about putting players in the best chance to succeed.

Pin the Ravens deep, get the ball back and move into FG range, versus having to march the length of the field and score a TD.

The way our defense was playing, the former would make sense whether it was Hodges or Ben back there.

 

If you listen to MT post game comments, you realize why he made the decision he did.
He had no faith in our receiving team. That had three starts behind the 20 for the game up to this point.
He made a businesss decision and it worked for him. And I give him credit.
A good defensive play by the Raven's CB ruined our chances. Football is a funny game,
sometimes you get the bear sometimes the bear gets you.

 

Some guys are just aching to argue what he does. Field position was everything in this game and the Ravens kickers just have better legs. If the punter doesn't nail a 57 yarder with no return (Best kick of the night) they're starting around the 40 only having to move @20 yards to give Boz a shot at winning.

Money on if he had taken the ball and started on the 15 and they failed to move the ball and score, the argument on here would have been:
"He knew they were kicking short to give us crappy field position!" "He didn't put Hodges the offense in a position to succeed!" "He doesn't know his team!"

 

You stuffed a lot of wrong into that first paragraph. The moment the defense forced a three-and-out, the decision had worked. The Steelers got the ball needing only a field goal to win and in spite of the monster punt, they were in better field position than they had been after every kick off all day. While I agree that the coaches are at least partially to blame for the lousy return game, that's not something they can fix in that moment. Tomlin took that into an account and made a decision that had his team in a great position to win until Smith-Schuster fumbled the ball away.

You are also wrong that the Steelers had no idea how to use Hodges. They actually used him very well. They did some things to get him throwing on the run early, specifically the throw to McDonald that got them to the one, which is something he is more comfortable with than Rudolph.

The coaches definitely did a lot wrong. They still leave the middle of the field wide open on defense too much. The special teams still suck. The offensive game plan early on was terrible. I'm not a fan of this staff, but you completely missed the boat on two things they did right yesterday.

 

You Take the Ball in OT. No justification for this.

 

If it’s and buts were candy and nuts

You can play that bs game with every single play call.