The Pittsburgh Steelers needed a yard to convert a fourth-and-1 from the New York Giants' 3-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and coach Mike Tomlin decided against a run up the middle for a first down, a pass for a touchdown or even the easy field goal to tie the game in favor of the backward flip to kicker Shaun Suisham.
It didn't work. And Foote was livid.
With the execution, not the call itself.
"I'm more mad we didn't execute it because we've been running that play for about five years now! And in practice, Heath Miller comes off and blocks me every time!" Foote told USA TODAY Sports, though he yelled it for about half of the Steelers' locker room to hear after their 24-20 victory at MetLife Stadium.
"We finally ran it and didn't execute!"
In a more measured tone, Foote then added, "That's football."
Foote's reaction summed up the way the Steelers handled a difficult
Sunday that certainly wasn't easy for anyone â?? the away team, the home
team or the fans.The Giants were dealing with the worst problems, of course. Some of their players are still without power and have suffered severe damage to their homes because of Hurricane Sandy. Some of the fans lost their houses but showed up at MetLife Stadium on Sunday hoping their team could provide a reason for them to smile at the end of a long, difficult week.
The Steelers had their own comparatively minor issues.
They had to overcome an extremely questionable call that gave the Giants a 70-yard touchdown return on a fumble that should've been ruled an incompletion. Their defense needed to force a stop after Tomlin's head-scratcher of a call resulted in Suisham's easily being tackled by the Giants' Michael Coe, who didn't rush hard off the edge as the Steelers had hoped.
And all of this came after the Steelers flew in the morning of the game instead of arriving a day early because the hotel they'd booked was without power.
Again, compared to what others have been dealt, it's petty stuff. But as it pertains to what happened between the lines, that was a tough, gritty performance by a team that has for years prided itself on being mentally and physically strong.
"It was one of the craziest things ever," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of the day-of-game travel, "but we might be doing that every week now, I don't know."
Said Foote, "I saw a lot of NFL superstar millionaires sleeping on the floor pregame in the hotel (lobby) with rolled-up shirts as pillows. But, hey, football's football. You put the ball down on the grass, and we'll play."
That's the kind of attitude a championship team needs to have. So when his team shows such a mentality, it's easy to see why Tomlin is encouraged.
"We combated a lot of adversity tonight, and were able to pull it out, particularly with a solid performance in the fourth quarter," Tomlin said, adding this of the failed fake field goal: "They overcame bad coaching sometimes, and that's on me."
But Tomlin's bad coaching might've had some solid reasoning.
You see, the Steelers' defense had just forced a three-and-out that ended with a sack of Eli Manning
on a third-and-11. On the previous Giants' possession, Pittsburgh had held the Giants to a field goal despite Manning & Co.'s taking over at the Steelers' 33-yard line. Not since Andre Brown's 1-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter had the Giants crossed the goal line.
Tomlin, who was immediately clapping for his defense to get the ball back as soon as Coe tackled Suisham, must've had an inkling his defense would bail him out if his gamble didn't pay off.
"Making that call?" cornerback Ike Taylor said. "Yeah, of course."
Added nose tackle Casey Hampton, "To even do something like that in that situation when you can take the three (points) and tie it up, that lets you know he's got a lot of faith in this defense."
And why not? In their five victories, the Steelers have given up a total of 10 points in the fourth quarter. In their three consecutive wins, they've given up only a field goal in the final period.
They outscored the Giants, who tied an NFL record with seven fourth-quarter comebacks in their Super Bowl season last year, 14-0 in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
"They're one of the best teams in the fourth quarter, and we were probably one of the worst teams in the fourth quarter (early in) the year," linebacker LaMarr Woodley said, referring to the combined 40 points allowed in the fourth quarters of the losses to the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans. "We weren't doing a great job closing out games and playing against one of the best fourth-quarter teams, we answered today."
A bad decision by Tomlin? Overcome. Adversity? Overcome. A 1-2 start? Overcome.
Now, here they come. The Steelers are title contenders once again.
"We're just getting back to playing sound football, we're getting back to closing in the fourth quarter," Taylor said. "The games we lost, we didn't find a way to finish, but we did today."
For more information see News Press.
The Camelot
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