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In their Week 14 Thursday Night Football matchup against the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers had to make up ground in the second half after giving up 21 points in the first half. At 13:23 remaining in the game, Miles Killebrew blocked the punt, giving the Steelers great field position, and the defense forced a quick three-and-out from the Patriots offense, leaving Pittsburgh trailing 21-10 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Najee Harris took the drive off with a six-yard run. After that, Darnell Washington was successfully passed to by Mitch Trubisky for a first down. Next, with 11:15 remaining in the play clock for the play on first down, Pittsburgh called its first timeout.
After attempting some deception on a first and goal, where tight end Connor Heyward was wide and nearly intercepted while attempting to go after Washington, the Steelers punched it in the end zone with a quarterback keeper from Trubisky that was one yard out. With 11:14 remaining in the game, Trubisky threw a dart to Pat Freiermuth to complete the two-point conversion, putting Pittsburgh down 21–18.
The Steelers’ next offensive play began on their 25-yard line, and after Freiermuth caught a pass for a four-yard gain on third down, but was stopped a yard short of the line to gain, the team was faced with a very difficult decision.
With a field goal deficit and deep in their own territory, Pittsburgh had to decide whether to go for it or hand the ball back to the Patriots’ offense, which was beginning to find its rhythm due to Pittsburgh’s defense in the second half. In order to consider his options, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin decided to take a timeout. Trubisky gained the first down when Pittsburgh launched their attack, but the drive ultimately resulted in a punt.
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