After that play," Roethlisberger said, "after I see the [official] signal in bounds, I'm yelling 'Clock! Clock! The second the offense hears 'Clock! Clock!' the only rule is the two outside receivers are on the ball, everybody else is off the ball . . . They're expecting me to spike the ball right away so there's no protection, no play, no nothing.
"I was yelling 'Clock! Clock! and guys were getting set. Then it comes through my headset, 'Ben, don't clock it. Run a play. Run a play.' Well, at that time, guys are all over the place, no one's lined up in their proper spot. In order for me to get guys lined up to call a play, you're talking 15-20 seconds potentially. Then there's lots of what-if factors. At that moment, the only thing I can do is give a receiver a quick hand signal to run a quick route and try and hold the ball long enough -- because, like I said, the line is not blocking in protection. They're basically lining up.
"In that moment in my head I'm thinking, 'Do I spike it? Do I not? I went with . . . I probably wish I went with my gut obviously now in hindsight. I should've listened to that instead of listening to running a play. I tried to make a play to Eli [Rogers]. I don't regret it. I just wish I made a better throw. I'll take the blame for the interception at the end of the game. My thought was clock it and then we either kick a field goal to tie, or run our best fourth-down play to win it."
Tomlin explained Tuesday that Roethlisberger could've spiked it if he wanted.
