Mike Tomlin doesn’t blame officials for Steelers missing the playoffs
Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin has every right to be angry this week. A missed call in the Kansas City Chiefs-San Diego Chargers game Sunday may have kept his team out of the playoffs.
The Steelers would have made the playoffs if the Chiefs defeated the Chargers, and it looked like that would happen when Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop lined up for a 41-yard field-goal attempt at the end of regulation. He missed, but the Chargers should have been penalized for having seven players on one side of the snapper, a five-yard penalty that would have given Succop a second chance, this time from 36 yards.
Instead, the game went into overtime and the Chargers won.
Tomlin, however, has taken the high road, refusing to blame the officials for his team’s fate.
“I’m not going to lose a lot of sleep over what happened in another stadium. We didn’t do enough to state our case,” Tomlin said at his end-of-the-season news conference on Monday.
He did say, however, that the NFL needs to take a look at officiating during the off-season. And because Tomlin is a member of the NFL competition committee, he is in position to make sure officiating does get looked at.
“I always want to be someone that’s part of the solution as opposed to someone that’s complaining and moaning about the problem. I intend to roll my sleeves up and offer any insight I can in making the NFL the very best it can be moving forward.”
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