It is a bye week in Pittsburgh, so there has been plenty of time for anguish about the most recent Steelers game, which they won. Some who follow the team and the league are angry, anyway.
Their fury has lingered because coach Mike Tomlin chose to punt with 1:08 remaining and a 3-point lead over the Vikings, rather than attempt to convert a fourth-and-1 from the Minnesota 40-yard line.
Perhaps they were taught a lesson, though, in the 49ers’ 26-23 overtime victory against the Rams.
With 3:41 left in overtime and Los Angeles at the SF 11-yard line, the Rams faced a fourth-and-1 situation. It was not identical to what the Steelers faced five days earlier, but both decisions carried the weight of an NFL outcome, and that is heavy, indeed.
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The Rams could have kicked a tying field goal, which might have been worth plenty, given the 49ers are rivals for the NFC West title. LA still would have needed to come up with a defensive stop in the remaining time, but if they had, there might have been enough time to pursue the victory.
Instead, coach Sean McVay initially tried to get the first down for free, instructing QB Matthew Stafford to draw the Niners offside. When that didn’t work, LA called a timeout and went for it for real. Stafford handed off to Kyren Williams, a 5-9, 210-pound running back, who found no room on the right side and was stopped for no gain. The Niners won, advancing a full game ahead of the Rams in the division.
Game on the line… you go for it instead of tying field goal… and THIS is the playcall by Sean McVay??
— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) October 3, 2025
This is probably the worst call of his career
pic.twitter.com/1eHNN0fHmc
Most of the criticism directed at McVay involved the play call, including from the coach himself: “I’m sick right now because I put my players in a (lousy) spot, and I’ve got to live with that.”
His decision not to accept a potential tie was mostly accepted, because aggression has become a sacrament among those for whom Lions coach Dan Campbell is the patron saint, even though his decisions not to attempt field goals twice in the second half of the NFC Championship game against the Niners cost Detroit their first-ever Super Bowl appearance.
This was evident in the reaction to Tomlin’s decision to call for a punt against the Vikings. The Steelers were ahead by 3 points with 68 seconds left. After a poorly executed attempt to get the Vikes to jump offside, the Steelers took a 5-yard delay penalty and sent in Corliss Waitman to kick it away.
“Pathetic … coaching like it’s 20 years ago,” a Twitter user who calls himself Judge Smails said Sunday.
Because Tomlin is living in his fears as always and doesn’t think he can get a foot or two on fourth down.
— Judge Smails (@Judge_Smails_xx) September 28, 2025
Pathetic
Coaching like it’s 20 years ago
“Tomlin is a horrible coach,” Jeremy Farr tweeted Monday afternoon.
Mike Tomlin Put on Blast for Steelers’ Week 4 4th Down Decision: ‘Indefensible’ https://t.co/UX85vTssiG via @heavysan
— jeremy farr (@farr_jeremy) September 29, 2025
Tomlin is a horrible coach!!!
And it wasn’t just fans.
On the NFL Network broadcast, analyst Greg Olsen called going for the first down in that situation “a no-brainer” because a conversion ensured the Vikings, out of timeouts, would not possess the ball again. During the week, several Pittsburgh sports talk hosts derided Tomlin’s choice, mocking him by referring to his personal “we don’t live in our fears” cliché. CBS Sports NFL writer Jeff Kerr called the decision “indefensible,” adding, “The conservative decision did work, but these are the decisions Tomlin makes that are head-scratching.”
Here’s the thing. No matter how many times the “ESPN analytics” institute says attempting to convert is the percentage play, such numbers do not account for a particular team’s strengths and weaknesses on that day.
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The coach’s job is not to be bolder. It’s to be smart and shrewd. It’s to be prudent. How the end of the Steelers-Vikings game developed showed how much thought went into Tomlin’s decision and its execution.
Had the Steelers failed, the Vikings would have needed only 15 yards to put Will Reichard in position to match the 62-yard field goal he kicked the previous week in a win over the Bengals. A field goal would have forced overtime.
Instead, the Steelers' Waitman punted into the end zone, which initially seemed like a blunder. The Steelers only gained 20 yards of field position as a result. But 20 yards was all they needed. Had Waitman attempted to pin the Vikings inside the 20, either by forcing a fair catch or angling toward the sideline, he quite possibly would have succeeded. He excels in both areas. But with the time remaining, it wasn’t worth the risk of a shank or return.
On the first play from scrimmage, QB Carson Wentz attempted a 17-yard out pattern that nearly was intercepted but was ruled incomplete. On the next two plays, the Steelers committed 5-yard penalties—a defensive hold and an offside—to assure Minnesota’s calls would not succeed. The Vikings had gained 10 yards but were down to 48 seconds. They never got farther than their own 39, and were ruined when Steelers pressure forced an intentional grounding call.
Tomlin’s success in this game was treated by so many as almost accidental. What's odd about that is those who worship analytics are so willing to ignore other consequential numbers, such as his winning percentage in games such as this.
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In his 19th season, Tomlin is 108-65-2 in one-score games. That .617 winning percentage is the best in NFL history, ahead of Tony Dungy, Don Shula, and everyone else who’s ever held the job for a significant period of time.
Since Tomlin became Steelers coach in 2007, his success in these circumstances dwarfs that of his contemporaries. The Chiefs’ Andy Reid has 88 wins in one-score games, and John Harbaugh of the Ravens has 76.
As competitive as the league has become, winning close games is an essential skill. And that’s about a whole lot more than proving who’s the baddest man on the block.