The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to move on from their upset loss against the Cleveland Browns in Week 12.
One of the biggest moments from the game came in the fourth quarter on the Steelers' second-to-last drive, when they decided to put backup quarterback Justin Fields into the game on a third-and-six with the lead. Rather than using Fields to run the clock out with under four minutes remaining, Pittsburgh chose to take a deep shot to George Pickens that fell incomplete.
After the play, the Steelers punted, and the Browns went down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown with under a minute remaining.
On Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the controversial play call and defended the decision with an honest take.
"We felt good about it, to be quite honest with you," said Tomlin. "It was a weighty moment. It was third-and-medium. They had 11 guys within five yards of the line of scrimmage. We had GP matched up on a corner not named Denzel Ward. That feels like more than a 50-50 ball to me, and so we were comfortable with that decision."
Obviously, if the play had been successful then the discussions surrounding it would be very different, but deciding to put Fields (whose speciality is running) in the game to make that play over Russell Wilson is still a confusing choice.
Although the Steelers do still sit at first place in the AFC North after the loss, they're just a half-game ahead of the Baltimore Ravens for the top spot, meaning they have very little room for error in the coming weeks.
