After further review, a challenge might have been the way to go.
At least that's the way it appeared after watching film of the Steelers 20-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
In the second quarter Rashard Mendenhall carried the ball on second down from the one-yard line, but was stopped short of the goal line according to the officials. The Steelers didn't challenge the call.
"We didn't think he crossed the plane and he didn't either, so we didn't challenge it," said Tomlin.
According to Tomlin "it's possible" that the NBC network feed, which showed a replay, wasn't on in the coach's booth, instead another feed was possibly coming through from the scoreboard.
But looking at film showed something different, and a challenge possibly could have resulted in a touchdown.
"If I see it on the field and I think it's a challengeable play, I'll challenge it," said Tomlin. "If I get information from upstairs, where we think it's a challengeable play, we will. If we don't, we generally rely on the players that are on the field. I've been here long enough where I know when I am going to get legitimate information or emotional information. That's our general process. Quite frankly on the play, of course since the game I found out it was a potentially challengeable play. We didn't deem it to be one in the instance in which it occurred. There wasn't a bunch of video evidence available to us, and the guys on the field didn't seem to think it was a challengeable play, so we didn't."
The Steelers failed to get in the end zone on third-and-one, and after three attempts from the goal line had to settle for a 19-yard field goal.
"We're not going to make that as an excuse," said Tomlin. "We had more than that opportunity to get that ball in the end zone down there. And we take responsibility for our inability to do that. And we're not going to let a judgment on the field be a crutch for us in that particular instance. We've got to score touchdowns when we have the ball down there. I'm less concerned about that element of the play or the fact that we challenged it or didn't challenge it. I just want to see a score when we're in those situations.
"Maybe we lose an opportunity there but that's not the reason we lost the football game and we are not going to turn it into that. We had more than that opportunity to score a touchdown in that instance. That's what I think about when I think about that sequence of plays and not a missed opportunity to potentially challenge a call."
