This one's on Tomlin

The Steelers have now lost three fourth-quarter leads this season. Seattle became the latest to overcome a deficit in the final period to beat the Steelers, following Cincinnati and Baltimore.

Josh Scobee lost the Baltimore game single-handedly. Ben Roethlisberger lost the Cincinnati game with his untimely and uncharacteristic fourth-quarter interceptions. The 39-30 loss to the Seahawks is squarely on the shoulders of head coach Mike Tomlin.

There is no defending his fake field goal attempt in the first half when the Steelers led by three or his decision to kick a field goal with three minutes remaining when his team trailed by five.

The Steelers are on the outside looking in of the playoff picture in the AFC, and we’ll be able to point to any one of those losses if the Steelers don’t make the playoffs.

What made the fake field goal such a bad call was its timing. The Steelers led, 3-0, and were in complete control of the game. Landry Jones came on as the holder and under-threw 6-foot-9, 340-pound left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, who had pulled from the other side of the line and tried to sneak down the opposite sideline. Jeremy Lane picked it off and set up the Seahawks’ first touchdown.

It was a 10-point swing in a game where neither defense could stop the offense.

Even if you want to blame it on Jones for not calling a timeout if he didn’t get the right look, the brunt of the blame belongs on Tomlin. It’s on him and special teams coach Danny Smith to make sure his players know when to execute a fake and when to cut your losses and call a timeout.

The decision with three minutes remaining is clouded by the fact that Ben Roethlisberger appeared to play third down with a head injury. He did not return to the game after the Steelers got the ball back after Seattle made it 39-30.

But even if Roethlisberger was not able to take the snap on fourth down it remains a very questionable call because he knew his defense could not stop Seattle. Russell Wilson completed a simple crossing route to Doug Baldwin on third-and-9 for the game-sealing 80-yard touchdown.

It was Wilson’s fifth touchdown pass the 80-yarder capped a 345-yard passing day.

I’m taking my chances with Roethlisberger, or Jones for that matter, on fourth-and-goal from the 3 rather than handing it over to a defense that was having its worst day of the season.

It was the third time as many games the Steelers allowed the opposing quarterback to throw for 300 yards or more. Derek Carr threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Johnny Manziel threw for 379 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

That’s 1,025 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions over a three-game span. The Steelers are lucky they won two of those games.

The secondary couldn’t communicate, cover or tackle on Sunday. It was reminiscent of the season opener at New England when the Patriots had players running free through the secondary all night.

The Steelers have to be asking themselves this morning if Robert Golden and Brandon Boykin would be upgrades over Will Allen and Antwon Blake.

Golden was solid when he had to step in and start three games for Allen earlier this season when Allen had an ankle injury. There should not be any hesitation to go back to him if the coaches determine Allen can’t hack it as a starter any longer. Allen’s tackling has been suspect all season and he was badly beaten for a touchdown.

Blake is the most-targeted corner in the NFL. He couldn’t keep up with Seattle’s receivers and he couldn’t tackle, which is supposed to be one of his strong suits and reason why he plays ahead of Boykin. Tomlin has been on record saying he likes Blake’s physicality and tackling ability.

But if Blake is hindered by a fractured thumb it might be time to turn to Boykin. The Steelers traded a fifth-round pick for him in July and he’s barely played. Even if Boykin is flawed, in this instance change for the sake of change might not be a bad idea.

Playoff possibilities

The Steelers are 6-5 and remain in contention for a playoff berth, but their chances took a hit with the loss. They might be able to afford one more loss and make it as a wild-card, but even that seems up in the air now.

The Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and New York Jets own the tiebreakers over the Steelers, who are currently the No. 8 seed in the AFC. The Chiefs and Texans are currently in, and they have very manageable schedules.

The Chiefs play at Oakland, play host to San Diego, travel to Baltimore and then play host to the Browns and Raiders in the final two weeks.

The Texans travel to Buffalo, play host to New England, travel to Indianapolis and Tennessee and then play host to Jacksonville in the regular-season finale.

The Jets have the most difficult schedule of the three contenders with 6-5 records. They are at the Giants, at home to Tennessee, at the Cowboys, at home to the Patriots and at Buffalo.

I was convinced 10-6 would get the Steelers in the playoffs a month ago, but that was before the Chiefs and Texans went on their winning streaks. It’s not difficult to imagine both going 4-1 over their final five games.

The Steelers would have to go 5-0 to avoid losing on a tiebreaker in that scenario. This team isn’t good enough on offense or defense to do that. Their best hope is to beat Indianapolis and hope the Texans win the AFC South. The head-to-head victory over the Colts would help the Steelers in a tiebreaker and it’d be another conference victory.

If there was one saving grace about the Seattle loss it was that it came out of conference. If there was one game the Steelers could afford to lose the rest of the way it was that one.