Mike Tomlin appreciates “selfless” Steelers making…

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The Steelers pulled out a 15-10 win over the Browns on Sunday, but the most memorable play of the game might have been a fake field goal that the Steelers attempted in the first half.

Kicker Chris Boswell took a direct snap and got drilled by Browns defensive tackle Jordan Elliott in the head while trying to throw a pass. The ball fell incomplete, no flag was thrown for Elliott’s hit, and Boswell missed the rest of the game with a concussion.

After the game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said we “shouldn’t have called it unless we were ready to run it with detailed execution and it’s obvious that we weren’t and that’s on me.” He also credited the rest of the team for the work they did the rest of the way to ensure that the mistake didn’t lead to a loss.

“Everyone played a selfless game,” Tomlin said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “They put the collective in front of the personal agendas, and we fought. That’s the only way you get out of those environments, particularly with some of the adversity that we faced today, some of which was created by us, some of which was created by me. The fake field goal was a bad call because we poorly executed it. I take responsibility for that. I appreciate the guys backing my play and fighting for 60 minutes and delivering a victory and making it a side note.”

The loss of Boswell meant the Steelers played the second half knowing that they wouldn’t be able to kick field goals or extra points, but Tomlin noted that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger “plays like he’s got no kicker anyway” and the Steelers scored two touchdowns in the final 19 minutes to earn a big AFC North victory.