Mike Tomlin’s Fears Are Costing Steelers

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a disappointing game against the Seattle Seahawks to open the home portion of their 2025 schedule. It was even more disappointing after their offense exploded in Week 1, looking very pedestrian by comparison in Week 2.

The offensive regression was an expectation for the Steelers after Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns in the season opener against his former team. Despite the step back, the offense had a chance to steal the momentum in the middle of a stalemate in the third quarter. With the game tied, the Steelers came up to a pivotal fourth and 1 at their own 48-yard line. They had just picked up nine yards on a pass to Jonnu Smith and running back Jaylen Warren picked up nearly his entire day’s production in that quarter.

Head coach Mike Tomlin decided the Steelers would punt the ball.

The Seahawks responded by marching down the field and kicking a go-ahead field goal. On the ensuing kick-off, Steelers rookie Kaleb Johnson misplayed the ball and the keenly aware Seahawks special teams unit scored a game-changing touchdown to give Seattle a 24-14 lead.

With the momentum completely on their side, the Seahawks tacked on 17 additional points in the final quarter and handed the Steelers a 31-17 defeat in front of their home crowd. Following the game Tomlin was asked about his decision to punt on that fourth down, and this was his reasoning.

”It was a 14-14 game,” he explained. “Neither offense was lighting it up at that juncture. As I mentioned we had absorbed some attrition on defense. So, I wanted to protect that group and keep (the Seahawks offense) them on a long field.”

Hearing that response called to mind another well-known quote from Tomlin. In a book of Tomlin-isms that’s been compiled over two decades, this one stands out.