There were multiple reasons why the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Cleveland Browns. One of their biggest flaws was their inability to convert on fourth down. Twice, the Steelers were facing fourth-and-short, and both times, they failed to convert. That halted a lot of their momentum. On the other hand, the Browns were excellent on fourth down. Miles Killebrew seemed surprised by the Steelers’ aggressiveness in those spots.
“I was shocked at some of the things that happened during the game,” Killebrew said Monday on 93.7 The Fan. “From my point of view, I wasn’t expecting, just from what we’ve done in the past, whether or not you go for it on a fourth down, whether or not you decide to kick a field goal on a fourth down. We don’t know those things.”
It was surprising to see Tomlin so ready to keep the Steelers offense on the field for fourth down. The extreme weather could be blamed, but the field wasn’t even covered in snow when they faced their first fourth down. That came on their second drive of the game, with a few minutes left in the first quarter.
Maybe part of Tomlin’s bold nature came from the Steelers playing on a short week in enemy territory. He might have felt like points would be harder to come by. No matter what, though, it was odd. It was so strange that it surprised Killebrew, a team captain.
This year, the Steelers have only attempted to convert on fourth down 14 times. Compare that to the Browns, who have the most attempts at 28. That level of experience was on full display in Week 12, and it made all the difference.
Killebrew continued explaining how he viewed those choices on fourth down.
“Those are decisions that are made between Coach Tomlin and whoever else is involved. So, when it comes time for the game, especially on the other side of the ball, we don’t know what they’re gonna do. They had missed one earlier. You never know. I don’t know. We were just trying to get out of there with that win, and it sucked that we weren’t able to.”
Killebrew is a defensive player who spends most of his time on special teams, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t be keyed into the offense’s fourth-down decisions. Ultimately, the Steelers were too predictable on fourth down, although they eventually converted on their third attempt.
On the season, the Steelers have only converted seven of 14 times on fourth down. That ineffectiveness in short yardage has plagued them at the worst times this year. Thankfully, the Browns didn’t score any points when the Steelers failed to convert. However, it still hurt the general flow of their offense.
It will be interesting to see if Tomlin continues to be so aggressive on fourth down. With Chris Boswell kicking as well as he is, that seems unlikely. The Steelers need to be better at scoring touchdowns, but sometimes, it’s okay to take three points. There were factors working against the Steelers, though, which might explain why they operated out of character against the Browns.
