With this masterful job, it’s time for Mike Tomlin to finally win NFL Coach of the Year

Will Mike Tomlin get his first NFL Coach of the Year award? (Yahoo Sports/Grant Thomas)

The Baltimore Ravens lined up for a 2-point conversion and the tie last Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. First place in the AFC North was at stake. Only 1:06 remained in the game. The Ravens presumably dialed up their best 2-point play.

And Mike Tomlin stopped it. Literally.

Tomlin called timeout right before the 2-point try was snapped. He timed it so the Ravens had to show the beginning of the play, which was Lamar Jackson on the move to his right. The Ravens scrapped that play, had Jackson go left after the timeout, and it had no chance. The Steelers stopped it to win 18-16, improving to a surprising 8-2 this season.

Tomlin’s timeout wasn’t particularly groundbreaking. But in a league that sees game management issues from coaches every week, it was another reminder that Tomlin knows how to win games.

“Thankfully we even saw some of the semblance of the schematics of what they intended to run,” Tomlin told the media after the game. “I think that made them change and go the other direction. And obviously, particularly Mr. Jackson is a little less dangerous when he’s going to his left than his right, so we’re thankful for that.”

NFL Coach of the Year is a weird award. It rarely goes to the league’s best coach, as strange as that sounds. It usually goes to the coach of whichever team most exceeds preseason expectation. The Steelers typically have high expectations. So Tomlin, who has famously never had a losing season in his 18 years as head coach, has never won the award.

It’s probably time for that to change this season.

Mike Tomlin makes the right move at QB

If the season ended today, here are the top six teams in the AFC and their quarterback. One of the situations is not like the other:

Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes

Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen

Houston Texans: C.J. Stroud

Los Angeles Chargers: Justin Herbert

Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson

… and the Pittsburgh Steelers:…