Late in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears, Mike Tomlin decided to punt instead of rolling the dice on a 4th-and-9 from his own 23. At the moment, Ben Roethlisberger thought the call made sense. But after sitting with it for a couple of days, the Pittsburgh Steelers legend has completely changed his mind.

“At the time, I’m like, you got three timeouts,” Big Ben said during his Footbahlin podcast. “I get why he’s punting. Your defense is playing well enough that you hope for a three-and-out and get the ball back…but why not take a chance on fourth down? Because if you get it, you keep your timeouts, you keep going. If you don’t get it, you still have your timeouts, and you’re trying to stop them anyway.”

The situation unfolded with the Steelers down 31–28, just 2:01 left on the clock, and all three timeouts still in their pocket. Tomlin had a major decision to make. And instead of letting the offense try to convert a tough 4th-and-9, he chose to punt. And in real time, while live-streaming the game, Roethlisberger actually backed Tomlin’s call and thought it was the right move.

“At the time, I was 50-50 on this,” he said during his recent podcast. “Whatever you decide.”

But the punt itself didn’t do the Steelers any favors, as Corliss Waitman only got off a 33-yarder, which immediately added pressure to Tomlin’s decision. And the more Roethlisberger thought about it afterward, the more his opinion shifted. As he put it, “The more I’ve thought about it, I’m like man, I’m more of a 75 (percent) go and 25 (percent) punt.”

Which naturally raises a question: Was Tomlin’s decision to punt right, or should he have gone for the 4th-and-9? The head coach answered it right after the game.

Mike Tomlin stood by his decision to punt

The Steelers, in their Week 12 matchup against the Bears, had their chances, but they blew up, resulting in a 31-28 loss. One of them was, of course, Mike Tomlin’s decision to punt late in the fourth quarter when they’re down by just 3 points. But right after the game, Tomlin admitted that he never even considered going for it, even though it was a critical moment.

“I did not,” he said after the game. “I was holding all three (timeouts), and as you can see, we got the ball back.”

Given the situation, Tomlin’s logic wasn’t hard to follow. The Steelers were staring at a 4th-and-9, not a manageable fourth-and-short. Their offense had struggled throughout the second half and had already failed on a fourth-and-short earlier in the game, a moment that likely influenced Mike Tomlin’s thinking.

And there was a real downside to going for it, too. If the Steelers had tried to convert and failed, the Bears would’ve taken over at the 23-yard line with a short field. A field goal there makes it 34–28, meaning Pittsburgh would’ve needed a touchdown and not a field goal to win. That scenario would’ve made their job significantly harder.

On top of that, Tomlin leaned on his defense, which had been playing well and had earned his trust to get a quick three-and-out. And to their credit, they delivered. The Bears drained only about 30 seconds before punting the ball back. Unfortunately, once Pittsburgh’s offense got its chance, it couldn’t capitalize. They reached midfield, just Chris Boswell’s range, then turned the ball over on downs, and lost the game.

That said, it’s safe to say that Big Ben was initially 50-50 and then became 75-25 due to Tomlin’s decision-making.