As the Pittsburgh Steelers led the New York Jets on Sunday in the fourth quarter something unusual happened and I don’t recall hearing an explanation. Are we in need of one? I sure think so but I’ll let you decide.
The Steelers had just made a first down at the Jets’ 31-yard line leading 20-17. The crowd was with Kenny Pickett and the offense every step of the way as the rookie quarterback moved the team into field goal range. The play that earned them a first down was a beautiful pitch and catch from Pickett to George Pickens for 26 yards. With the clock winding towards four minutes remaining in the game, the one thing none of us expected to occur, did.
For reasons known only to Matt Canada and I guess Mike Tomlin, Pickett hurried the team to the line of scrimmage. The question is why? Here’s some possible reasons.
- Canada/Tomlin were being aggressive. They didn’t think that adding a field goal (would have extended the lead to six) was enough and wanted to punch in a touchdown.
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They were trying to keep the Jets from substituting.
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Pickett thought he could catch them off guard.
I’m sure there are other reasons but none seem to make any sense to me. In fact, I couldn’t accept anything told to me by Tomlin or Canada anyway. Let’s say option one was their goal and they felt like they were catching the Jets asleep. Then why in the hell would you go with a toss? To be VERY clear, the toss from Pickett was behind Jaylen Warren and was 100% his fault. I can wonder until I’m blue in the face if they had taken their time then maybe he would have made a less hurried ‘bad toss.’
Back to the main point here though… If you’re trying to catch the defense off guard then why aren’t you trying to strike for a big play? You’re already saying “to hell with the clock” if you’re going ‘hurry-up’ right? I honestly don’t know why this isn’t getting more attention and no I’m not naive. I realize that if anyone asked about this decision when interviewing Canada or Tomlin knows they would get a canned response.
Perhaps the bigger ramification could come from Art Rooney II. I’m guessing his reaction was the same as mine and many others. I sure hope the answer he gets satisfies him but I highly doubt it. The decision left the Steelers with a second and 15 and on the next play, Pickett’s throw escaped the hands of Pat Freiermuth and was intercepted. And you know what followed.
Feature image courtesy weirtondailytimes.com.
