The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 4 Dublin campaign ended with a 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. But it wasn’t such a close battle as the scoreboard looks. The offense carved out an early lead before the end of the first half. But in the fourth quarter, the Vikings made a resurgence, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin left no doubt why that happened.

The Steelers entered the second half with a 14-6 lead and added another touchdown in the third quarter. They followed it up with a field goal to rack up the 24 points while the Vikings still trailed at 6 points. But that’s when the script almost flipped. With the Steelers’ defense dinged up, the Vikings suddenly found their rhythm, quickly gaining ground with two touchdowns. For coach Tomlin, those slip-ups didn’t go unnoticed.

In the postgame presser, Tomlin’s stance was clear: the Steelers’ defense, riddled with injuries, became hard to manage late in the game. “We were leaking bad at that juncture. I think we had big nickel in and I think three safeties, and that’s not ideal under the circumstance. You’re really limited in terms of your schematics. You can’t play man-to-man, and so it was what it was, but we were able to get out of the stadium.” On the final drive, repeated defensive penalties gave the Vikings’ offense an edge. But even with the late-game miscues, the Steelers’ defense did put up an impressive performance.

Not only did the Steelers’ defense hold the Vikings down to just 70 yards on the ground, but they also picked off Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz twice. To add to the pain, Wentz also got sacked a whopping 6 times. At the end, Pittsburgh got the ball back while the Vikings failed to score any points. Postgame, Coach Tomlin also admitted the Vikings played with grit. “We made it a little bit more entertaining than maybe it should have been, but the Vikings had a lot to do with that. That group’s got a lot of fight. They’re well coached.” 

But despite all the praise for the Vikings’ squad and blaming his team’s defense, Mike Tomlin received some scathing reviews for his calls in the game as well. But now, he has the time he needs to get the defense back in shape.

Mike Tomlin’s late-game decision raises eyebrows

With just about a minute left on the clock, the Steelers had a 3-point lead over the Vikings. Coach Tomlin decided to take a delay of game penalty on a 4th-and-1 instead of going for it. A punt gave the Vikings possession of the ball, and it looked like they might carve out some points for themselves to tie the score and send the game into overtime. Fortunately, the Steelers’ defense held up, and the offense got the ball back as the game drew to a close. But that decision didn’t sit well with the broadcasters.

As FOX broadcaster Greg Olsen saw that 4th-and-1 play, he couldn’t help up share his surprise. “Wow. It’s a no-brainer,” Olsen noted on the live broadcast. “You get half a yard and the Minnesota Vikings never possess the ball ever again. You can’t let the third-and-shirt play, where they don’t get any yards, you can’t let that spook you. – they can still win the game. But the outcome doesn’t mean the decisions are correct.” Olsen wasn’t the only one, though. Hordes of disappointed fans took to social media to call out Tomlin’s coaching on this play. But what’s next?

The Steelers have a bye week now, which gives them the time to recuperate. As Mike Tomlin noted post-game, “I’ve never had a bye that didn’t seem like it didn’t come at the appropriate time. Calvin Austin’s got a shoulder. … Jalen Ramsey was in and out of the game with a hamstring. Brandin Echols had cramps. [Darius] Slay got cleated. We were leaking a little bit in the secondary coming into the game without Joey Porter, but such is life.”

For now, the Steelers end a successful international trip. They also get the much-needed time to heal. They next face the Cleveland Browns in Week 6. We’ll wait and see if the defense has stopped “leaking” by that time.