In the wake of the Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the New England Patriots, everyone will be second-guessing Cowher's decisions. The most critical decisions he made Sunday night, besides allowing Roethlisberger to throw so many passes, came late in the 3rd quarter with the Steelers at 1st-and-goal in side the Patriots' 5 yard line.
The first real questionable decision came on 2nd and goal, when Roethlisberger attempted a pass into the end zone. Before that play, you had to assume that, if given 3 or 4 attempts, Bettis and/or Staley could find their way into the end zone.
But the decision to kick the field goal was the real questionable call. Kicking the FG still left the Steelers down by two scores. Would it not make more sense to go for the TD on 4th down, hope your defense holds if you don't make it, and play with a short field? And if you actually scored, you are now down by only a single TD.
A few decisions will always by criticized, but those 4th quarter ones will really haunt the Steelers, who have a whole off-season to think of the what-ifs.
But, in the end, it probably doesn't matter what decisions were right or wrong. From the moment the Patriots intercepted that first pass, you got the feeling it was their night. Champions have a knack for making even the best teams look not so good.
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