Ben Roethlisberger criticizes Steelers, coach Mike Tomlin

Former Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger does not have a glowing review of how his former team performed in its last game.

And one of his targets is Mike Tomlin, who was Roethlisberger's head coach for the final 15 seasons of Big Ben's 18-year career.

Roethlisberger couldn't believe Tomlin called two timeouts early in the fourth quarter during a 21-18 loss to the hapless New England Patriots last Thursday night.

"You can't afford in the second half of games to burn silly timeouts and to not have them late in the game," Roethlisberger said on his podcast, "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger." "To me, that's bad coaching."

Pittsburgh's late bid to force overtime against the Patriots lasted two plays as the clock ran out with Pittsburgh in possession of the ball at the New England 42-yard line.

Roethlisberger felt if the Steelers had done a better job of time management with the timeouts, they might have had a chance at a tying field goal.

"There's some feel you have to have in those situations because timeouts can be so valuable, as we saw in this game," Roethlisberger said. "If we have one more timeout there, we get a completion, we can work the middle of the field and all you got to do is give (Chris Boswell) a 60-yard chance. Give him a chance and he'll tie the game. I like my chances in overtime because they scored all their points early and the momentum had shifted."

The Steelers (7-6) have lost three of four games and are fighting for a playoff spot. If they miss out, it will be two straight seasons of no playoffs in the post-Roethlisberger era.

During Roethlisberger's career, Pittsburgh never finished below .500 and made the playoffs in 12 of 19 seasons. The Steelers won Super Bowls following the 2005 and 2008 seasons.

Now Roethlisberger wonders this: "Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done."

He definitely doesn't like what he's seeing.

"I understand the further you get away from that, the harder it is unless it's being passed down and carried the right way," Roethlisberger said. "It just feels like that's something that's been lost on this team. I've felt that certain guys on the team aren't in it for the team, they're in it for themselves. Well, now some of the guys on the team are saying the same thing."

The Steelers are in third place in the AFC North and one of six teams in the AFC with a 7-6 record.

Pittsburgh visits the Indianapolis Colts — another 7-6 team — on Saturday.

—Field Level Media