Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Says He ‘Dozed Off’ and Missed End of Chargers vs. Raiders

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

While most of the NFL community was enthralled by Sunday’s overtime thriller between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, one person who wasn’t was also someone who had a lot at stake. 

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday he “dozed off” late in the game. 

Tomlin did joke he was “probably better off not having watched it” given how close it came to ending in a tie. 

Coming out of Week 17, ESPN’s Football Power Index gave the Steelers an 8 percent change to make the postseason. 

Going into Sunday’s slate of games, the Steelers’ path to the playoffs required them to beat the Baltimore Ravens, the Indianapolis Colts lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chargers-Raiders game not end in a tie. 

The Steelers beat the Ravens 16-13 in overtime, and the Jaguars stunned the Colts 26-11 in Jacksonville. 

There didn’t appear to be any drama in the Sunday night game when the Raiders took a 29-14 lead with 8:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers made it interesting by tying the score with touchdowns on their final two drives of regulation. Justin Herbert and the offense converted five fourth-down conversions during that span, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer on 4th-and-21. 

Both teams traded field goals on the first two possessions of overtime before the Raiders took the ball back with 4:30 remaining. They went 46 yards in eight plays, including picking up 10 yards on Josh Jacobs’ run from the Chargers’ 39-yard line to set up Daniel Carlson’s game-winning field goal as time expired. 

If Carlson had missed the kick, the Steelers would have missed the playoffs, with the Raiders and Chargers getting the AFC’s final two wild-card spots.