Keith Butler glad to return to Steelers sideline after watching Ravens game on TV

Since he got into coaching in 1990, Keith Butler estimated he never missed one of his team’s games until Sunday.

A positive covid test and an inability to clear protocols in time led to Butler remaining in Pittsburgh while the Steelers traveled to Baltimore with their season hanging in the balance.

Instead of standing on the sideline relaying plays as defensive coordinator, Butler watched the game on television with his wife of 42 years. Coach Mike Tomlin and senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin handled defensive coordinator duties.

It led to a stressful few hours for the Butlers, who watched the Steelers pull out a 16-13 overtime victory to keep their postseason hopes afloat.

“My wife was yelling more than I was,” Butler said Thursday. “She’s been around the game for a long time. She’s got opinions about everything, for sure. But it was hard sitting there watching that. I’m glad we won. It was a tough ballgame. It always is when we go over there.

“It’s not a whole lot of fun sitting there watching and you couldn’t do anything.”

Later Sunday night, Butler was in the same position as his other coaching contemporaries. He was powerless to do anything but watch the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers go into overtime before the outcome was decided on Daniel Carlson’s last-second field goal.

A tie would have bounced the Steelers from the playoffs. Like a lot of people, Butler wondered why Chargers coach Brandon Staley called a timeout with 38 seconds left when it looked like the Raiders might settle for the tie. The Raiders regrouped and got a first down before Carlson was called on to kick the winning 47-yard field goal.

“I don’t know what made him kick that field goal other than maybe (the Chargers) called timeout, and he said, ‘If you’re going to try to beat me, I’m going to try to beat you,’ ” Butler said. “Thank goodness he did.”

Related:

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• Ben Roethlisberger on Steelers' playoff chances: 'Have fun and see what happens'
• Trai Turner thinks lack of playoff experience can work in favor of Steelers young linemen

Butler was cleared to return to the practice facility this week, and he’ll be back on the sidelines Sunday when the Steelers face the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round. He’ll try to devise a plan that works better than the one that was in place Dec. 26, when the Chiefs whipped the Steelers, 36-10.

The Chiefs scored on their first four possessions and piled up 255 yards while taking a 23-0 halftime lead.

“We have to do a whole lot better job of coaching,” Butler said. “We have to do a much better job in terms of preparing our guys, and they gotta do a much better job in terms of preparing themselves. For us to have a chance, that’s what we gotta do. We gotta get a lot better at coaching and a lot better at playing. If we do that, we’ll have a chance.”