For a guy who was getting “Coach of the Year” hype all week, Mike Tomlin sure made a lot of people mad in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

A few of his and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner’s coaching decisions made it into this week’s “Airing of Grievances.”

And we don’t stop there!

The Steelers’ 23-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday was uplifting, entertaining and important. But that doesn’t mean it was perfect.

Here are a few of the grievances that must be aired as Festivus season draws near.

The fake punt

Even the Cardinals’ Twitter account mocked the Steelers fake punt after it failed.

Our fake punt > Their fake punt pic.twitter.com/yY0gxkFGHN

— Arizona Cardinals ⋈ (@AZCardinals) December 8, 2019

And they should have. Their fake punt worked great earlier in the game.

.@ChaseEdmonds22 as Harry Houdini. pic.twitter.com/L0QCVkS3hP

— Arizona Cardinals ⋈ (@AZCardinals) December 8, 2019

The Steelers’ was a bust. And it nearly crippled the team.

Up 20-10 in the fourth quarter from their own 40, there was no reason to run a fake punt there.

Which is why — apparently — the Steelers called the fake off, but punter Jordan Berry never got word. So he ran it anyway.

Whoever’s decision it was to send in the option to have the fake on in the first place is to blame.

Whether that’s Tomlin, special teams coordinator Danny Smith, Berry, or upback Jordan Dangerfield, it doesn’t matter. Blame them all.

Or just blame Tomlin for allowing a process to be in place where a fake punt in that situation is at all possible at any time.

This is now a trend

The Steelers have gotten in the truly annoying habit of stopping the clock with their own passing game late in the fourth quarter while trying to protect a lead.

They did it near the goal line in Cincinnati two weeks ago. They did it on a third down play against Cleveland last week.

They did it again Sunday in Arizona.

With 1:55 left on second-and-goal, the Steelers threw a pass to Diontae Johnson that looked like it was going to be a bubble screen of some sort. But it fell incomplete.

That stopped the clock and allowed the Cardinals to save a timeout before the Steelers ran the ball on third down and eventually kicked a field goal on fourth down to make the score 23-17.

In the end, it didn’t matter because Joe Haden intercepted Kyler Murray to seal the game.

Why do that there, though?

Run the ball. Grind the clock. Why put yourselves in a position where something like that could go wrong with an incompletion or a turnover?

All the Steelers did was give the ball back to the Cardinals for their last possession with a timeout they never thought they’d have.

So much for that theory

Every week we wait for a breakout game from Steelers tight ends. Every week it fails to happen.

This week felt like a lock since the Cardinals defense had a reputation of being terrible against tight ends. Opposing tight ends had managed 13 touchdowns in the Cards’ first 12 games.

Further, players at the position averaged 70 yards and five catches per game against Arizona.

But Vance McDonald only had one catch for three yards before getting knocked out with a concussion. Nick Vannett didn’t have any receptions at all.

Vannett has just seven catches in nine games since joining the Steelers. McDonald had seven catches, including two touchdowns, against Seattle. But since then, his best game was a five-catch, 30-yard outing against the Colts in Week 7.

Red means stop

The red zone was unkind to the Steelers offense.

Sure, Johnson had a touchdown catch from the two-yard line.

Punt return for a touchdown ✔️Receiving touchdown ✔️@Juiceup__3 + #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/odGuXe7oNo

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 8, 2019

But the other three trips all resulted in short field goals. Fortunately for the Steelers, Chris Boswell remains solid. He nailed all three of his kicks between 25 and 37 yards.

However, with an offense as challenged as this one is, the Steelers need to get touchdowns when they have those opportunities close to the end zone.

Consistently inconsistent

If you are like me, you think the NFL officials have gotten overly litigious when it comes to throwing flags on perceived blows to the head.

It’s a losing battle, and one we should probably stop fighting.

Here it goes anyway.

The Steelers benefited from one such call on their opening drive when Arizona linebacker Jordan Hicks hit ball carrier Trey Edmunds shortly after he was tackled. That resulted in an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Later in the drive, though, Hicks delivered a shot on Jaylen Samuels that looked much worse, and it didn’t get a flag.

Both should have been flagged, or neither should have been flagged. The way I prefer to see the game played, neither should’ve gotten a penalty.

But I’m not part of a massive concussion lawsuit settlement. So in this day and age, both should’ve drawn a penalty.

I guess.

Either way, there is no consistency from week to week, or even play to play.

Much like with pass interference. Or any other penalty for that matter.

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