Tough decisions pay off for Steelers after Chris Boswell's injury

CLEVELAND — A 255-pound rookie punter… lining up to kick a game-winning field goal? Complete with a Hall of Fame quarterback performing the hold?

If things had played out just a little bit differently, could that have been the dramatic ending of Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns game?

“We’ll never know,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said with a grin, “will we?”

Luckily for the Steelers, it never came down to punter Pressley Harvin III lining up for his first in-game placekick since … maybe forever. Likewise, 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t forced into duty as an emergency holder.

The Steelers offense and defense did enough to come away with a 15-10 victory, negating the need for drastic measures in attempting field goals or extra points. That it was in question is attributable to concussion-like symptoms suffered by veteran kicker Chris Boswell after absorbing a hit by Browns defensive lineman Jordan Elliott at the end of a botched fake field goal in which Boswell took a direct snap and rolled out to his right looking to pass.

Boswell flung the ball toward Zach Gentry in the back of the end zone moments before he was struck by Elliott.

“The fake field goal was a bad call because we poorly executed it,” Tomlin said, “so I take responsibility for that. I appreciate the guys backing my play, fighting for 60 minutes, and delivering a victory and making it a side note.”

The call might remain in the news should Boswell’s status for next week’s game be in doubt as he enters NFL concussion protocol.

There is no indication that will be the case, however.

Roethlisberger said, “I am glad Boswell is OK,” and a post to Boswell’s verified Instagram account also made light of the incident.

“That’s a situation that no one wants to be in,” Roethlisberger said. “You’re sitting there watching the game transpire, and you’re like, ‘OK, if they score, we’re down by two, and we don’t have a (kicker), what are we going to do?’

“You’ve just got to go into the mindset that you’re going to go for it on fourth down, and you’ve got to be ready to go for a 2-point play.”

The Steelers not only went for two after both second-half touchdowns they scored, they even did so from the 12-yard line after a Roethlisberger sneak was negated by a holding penalty on Kendrick Green.

“It was weird because … I was like, ‘Why are we going for two? It’s 10-9,’” rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth said of his reaction after the Steelers’ first touchdown. “And then we backed up with the penalty — and again, ‘Why are we still going for two.’ Then I came off to the sidelines and they said we don’t have a kicker, and I said, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ ”

Of the Steelers’ three other drives after Boswell’s injury, two stalled in their own territory and another ended the game as the Steelers ran out the clock. That prevented a tough decision being thrust on Tomlin about whether to try a field goal in lieu of a potential fourth-and-long.

Perhaps because they won, the Steelers made no point of mentioning that Elliott’s hit could have been flagged for roughing the passer – yes, even a kicker given protections of “a passer” when he’s throwing one. Such a penalty would have set the Steelers up with four cracks at a touchdown from the Browns’ 5-yard line with 1 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half.

“We did not see any contact that rose to the level of a foul,” referee Shawn Hochuli said.

The sequence led to a different mindset for a Steelers’ offense that had to play an entire half knowing it would likely be going for fourth downs inside the opponents’ 40 and would be going for two after every touchdown.

“We were just thinking about converting on third downs and just keep playing our ball,” running back Najee Harris said. “Making sure we had short third downs, short second downs, so we would be behind the sticks and have them play a different coverage. Obviously, losing (Boswell) was bad, but we just worried about finishing out the game.”

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