One of the questions Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was sure to face Tuesday in his weekly press conference is why Ben Roethlisberger was still playing with less than five minutes left in a 30-12 wild-card win over the Dolphins.
Roethlisberger took a hit from Cameron Wake as he threw an interception and re-aggravated an old foot injury. He was in a walking boot Sunday night, but has shed the walking boot and is ready to play in Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game against the Chiefs.
Tomlin said he felt the Steelers still needed Roethlisberger in the game to secure the win.
“We felt his presence in the game would lead us in terms of closing the game out,” Tomlin said, according to NFL.com.
Tomlin said a lot of the play calls throughout the game were based on the kind of defense the Dolphins presented rather than a script. Roethlisberger played in the game and was familiar with the defense the Steelers were facing, so he stayed in there until the end.
Regarding the decision to throw on third down, Tomlin took the blame there and said he was “overaggressive.”
“I made the call. So don’t ask (offensive coordinator) Todd (Haley) about it on Thursday. I made the call and I take responsibility.”
The Steelers’ wild-card win over the Dolphins was their largest margin of victory in the playoffs since 1996. It will be tougher Sunday when they try to beat the Chiefs (12-4) at Arrowhead Stadium. It would be surprising if the Steelers were up three scores with five minutes left on Sunday. They’ll probably need Roethlisberger every step of the way.
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