Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin 24-21 in a game that shouldn’t have been as close as the final score. Despite some heart-pounding final minutes, it still counts as a win — Pittsburgh advances to 3-1 and remains at the top of the AFC North.
And as always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had:
Mike Tomlin is going to get some (well-deserved) flak for his decision-making against the Vikings, but it overshadowed a performance where he and Pittsburgh’s staff looked good overall.
The Vikings are, without a doubt, one of the most well-coached and cutting-edge franchises in the league, and the Steelers dominated for the majority of the game. Despite an unfamiliar location with a weird kickoff time — and a teammate being jumped and robbed over the weekend — the Steelers were remarkably poised and focused in what was their best win of the year so far.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin schemed up some excellent blitz packages that got home to Carson Wentz, while offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s gameplan found the weak spots in Brian Flores’ scheme with quick game throws and a run game that punched the defense in the mouth.
The Vikings were shorthanded, but it’s still the Vikings. This was a good win for the Steelers.
But it shouldn’t have been that close. And part of that falls on the coaches as well.
There were a few puzzling choices: The first was Tomlin’s initial decision to settle for a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the three-yard-line with 4:14 left in the game. The Steelers were already up two possessions at that point (24-14) and would’ve gone up three with another touchdown.
After a strange back-and-forth where the players seemed to disagree with Tomlin over the call, he relented and the offense went for it. But then the call was just a simple run play — which, when you need over three yards against an already-condensed goal line defense, is not the best decision. The Steelers, unsurprisingly, didn’t get it.
Pittsburgh then had a second chance to put the game away for good after Minnesota marched downfield thanks to a coverage bust and made it within three points of the Steelers. The team needed one yard on fourth down at the Minnesota 40-yard-line with under a minute left in the game. All the Steelers had to do was gain a yard to seal the win — on a day where Pittsburgh, for once, was dominating in the run game.
This time, there was no convincing Tomlin.
The Steelers punted, and to add insult to injury, punter Corliss Waitman sent the ball straight through the end zone for a touchback rather than at least trying to play the field position game. This one looked like another coaching decision (were they overly worried about a return?) given how purposefully Waitman sent the ball through the end zone.
Instead of potentially winning the game on the...
