Did 46-year-old Adam Vinatieri save Mike Tomlin’s job — and the Steelers season? Path to playoffs is still narrow, but it is now realistic after another nail biter, this time over the Rams


Adam Vinatieri dejected after missing FG against Steelers
Photo courtesy of ESPN

… Kevin Colbert MVP? Well, he created this mess

At the start of the season, I had listed my predictions of the fate of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019, and I was wildly optimistic.

Really, 11-5? That now sounds ridiculous even if their starting QB had stayed healthy.

I then seriously reconsidered the rest of the season after two or three consecutive losses, and realized that a nine-win season might be enough to eek out a spot in the playoffs.

However, even in this reconsidered piece, I had them losing one of two games, either to the Indianapolis Colts or the Los Angeles Rams, who played in the Super Bowl last season, in the middle of the season.

Now, they have won both of those games, but only because Lady Luck was shining on them in the Indianapolis game. The Colts had what for future Hall of Fame kicker Adam Vinatieri was a chip shot, a 43-yarder, that would have given the Colts a 27-26 victory.

Vinatieri not only missed, he shanked it miserably so that it did not even come close to splitting the uprights. The snap was low, the holder had the laces facing the kicker’s foot, and it failed miserably.

As the Associated Press said about Steeler Coach Mike Tomlin’s press conference, “Mike Tomlin sighed …”

That was pure luck, and if the Steelers had fallen to 3-5 with the Rams on the horizon, the team would have been despondent and their future much more uncertain that it was -- and still is.

The fans and minority owners, who have been clamoring for a change at coach because of the Steelers’ woeful performance in the playoffs since the appearance against the Green Bay Packers almost a decade ago, would have been outraged, and the boos, which have now become commonplace in Tomlin’s lair, would have been incessant after the Steelers fell behind 7-0 against the Rams.

Kevin Colbert a genius? Not really

In fact, in a rather convoluted piece about the NFL teams and their MVP’s last week, ESPN selected the general manager, Kevin Colbert, as their MVP for his trade for Miami rookie safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Colbert gave up a first-round pick to the Dolphins for Fitzpatrick, which they never do. However, it was desperation time.

Fitzpatrick returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown against the Colts — to go along with four others in the season, one more against the Rams— and that play turned around that game. 

The Rams were already up 10-3, and they were ready to score another TD to give them a 14-3 advantage when Fitzpatrick pulled off his heroics.

After the win over the Rams on Sunday, Steelers linebacker Vince Williams was quoted at shouting this in the locker room, according to ESPN,

"Man, Kevin Colbert is a genius for getting Minkah," he yelled, laughing as he extolled the praises of his general manager. "Wooo, that man is a genius."

Brooke Fowler, “Minkah Fitzpatrick deal is the trade that 
keeps giving for Steelers,” Nov. 10, 2019

Actually, the “genius” Colbert was forced to do that because the number 1 draft picks that he had selected a few years ago to rebuild the second had failed so miserably. But, that is another story for later this week.

Bottom Line

Now, the Steelers are actually the last one of the teams in the running for the second wild-card berth. And, after being 0-3, then 1-4, that is satisfying.

However, they have to travel to Cleveland for a Thursday night game, and they have to realize that the Baltimore Ravens are possibly the best team in the AFC right now — despite losing to the Browns earlier. They have the best offense in the league — the Chiefs are moving in the wrong direction, and they had that distinction last year.

But, Mike Tomlin was in a corner earlier — and the boo birds have not left Heinz Field — yet. If they lose to the Browns, the criticism will intensify, but if they had been 3-5 going into Sunday’s battle with the Rams, Tomlin’s quest to remain in Pittsburgh would have been more challenging.

The truth is that Art Rooney the II or III or whatever — he is definitely not a chip off the block — will never fire Tomlin unless he is forced to do so. That could have occurred before, but now, they have a better shot.

We shall see.

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