‘Attrition.’ That’s the word you’ll hear on repeat from Mike Tomlin after Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks marched into Pittsburgh and walked out with a 31-17 win, leaving the head coach with plenty to think about and some hard decisions to make.

The reasoning is straightforward: a muffed kickoff by rookie Kaleb Johnson hurt the Pittsburgh Steelers badly, the defense was already dealing with injuries, and right at the center of it all? Pittsburgh opting to punt on fourth-and-1.

At that moment, the scoreboard read 14-14. Aaron Rodgers wanted to go for it. But Tomlin stayed true to his philosophy. On fourth-and-1, Steelers punter Corliss Waitman booted it to the Seahawks’ 9-yard line, where Tory Horton made the fair catch. Now, looking back at the final score, it’s clear that the sequence was a turning point. When asked about the decision, Tomlin pointed to the offense led by Rodgers as part of the bigger picture.

“You know, neither offense was lighting up that juncture. As I mentioned, we had absorbed some attrition on defense, and so I want to protect that group and keep them on a long field,” Tomlin said. There’s no denying that both offenses weren’t lighting up at that time. And of course, the Steelers had lost a couple of defenders to injuries. We’re talking about the injuries of Isaiahh Loudermilk and Alex Highsmith.

Loudermilk went down with a leg injury and never made it back on the field. Highsmith, meanwhile, came into the game after hurting his ankle from Friday’s practice, and then tweaked the same ankle again before eventually leaving the field. The signs were there: Tomlin himself admitted the offense wasn’t exactly lighting things up, sure.

But deep down, the HC’s gamble to protect a defense already held together with tape during the fourth-and-1 actually backfired. The result? The Seahawks flipped the field, seized the momentum, and poured in 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to close out a 31-17 win over the Steelers.

Mike Tomlin’s rookie played a key role in a 31-17 loss

“Just poor judgement by a young player,” Mike Tomlin said about Kaleb Johnson. The head coach was addressing the muffed kickoff by the rookie that resulted in a Week 2 loss against the Seahawks. After the Steelers punted at fourth-and-1, the Seahawks took a 17-14 lead on a 54-yard field goal by Jason Myers.

On the very next kickoff, the rookie returner let the ball slip through his hands and roll into the end zone. What didn’t he realize? The play was still live. Seattle’s George Holani pounced on it for a back-breaking touchdown, flipping the momentum on its head. That was all for the Steelers in the game.

Because that turnover allowed Seattle to take a 24-14 lead with 12:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. The real twist, though? It took only six seconds for that 10-point swing to happen. The Steelers surely did answer back. They went on a 9-play, 45-yard drive, and Chris Bowell nailed a 54-yard field goal to cut the lead to 24-17. But the Seahawks didn’t waste time striking back.

Just seven plays later, Darnold hit AJ Barner for a 19-yard gain, then connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 43-yard catch. The Steelers sacked the Seahawks’ quarterback, no doubt. But it didn’t matter much. On the very next play, Kenneth Walker III busted out a 19-yard touchdown run, putting Seattle back up by 14 points (31-17). It’s 1-1 now for the Steelers. Next week? We’ll see if they bounce back.