During his latest “Footbahlin’” podcast, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger panned the team’s late third-quarter decision to throw the ball from the shotgun on fourth-and-1 in Texans territory during their 30-6 loss in Houston on Sunday.

“I hated the play call,” Roethlisberger said. “When they called timeout, I’m thinking to myself, it’s (either) a QB sneak. It’s Najee (Harris) up the middle because he’s been running pretty hard. Or if you really want to get creative with it, sell it like you’re going to run because everyone in the building thinks you’re going to run it, and go with real hard play action and take a shot up over top. We used to do that on fourth down a lot. … The Raiders did it to us last week. On fourth-and-1, they hit Davante Adams for a touchdown. Same thought. It’s everyone’s up at the line. Everyone’s playing run, and that happens. So I am like, ‘Those are your options. It has to be those three things.’”

Roethlisberger then sounded baffled as to what the call was.

“They come out in shotgun. And I’m like, ‘Oh. Maybe they are going to draw them offsides.’ Because you can do that too, or maybe they’re gonna shift. Do something,” Roethlisberger said. “And they snap the ball, and I see they are running a little choice route. And I’m just like, oh no, I mean, I just, I don’t believe it.”

Nor could most Steelers fans. The Texans blew up the play, and Pickett was sacked. Roethlisberger admitted that he had no behind-the-scenes knowledge after the fact as to why the play was called. But he floated a possibility that the design could’ve been a favorite of Pickett’s in advance of the game.

“The night before the game, you go through the play sheets. You will pick your top two or three third-and-short, third-and-medium, third-and-longs,” Roethlisberger explained. “All the quarterbacks are in the (meeting). Quarterback coach, offensive coordinator. And it’s like, OK, what is your favorite? OK, you like this one, you like this one, you like this one. So when you’re in a situation, you’re calling plays that you really like. … So maybe Kenny said on the third- or fourth-and-1, this is my favorite play. Now, obviously, it can always be overruled by the coach, … but maybe that was his play.”

If Roethlisberger is right on that, then, yes, the coaches should’ve overruled that play in that situation. Without a doubt.

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Roethlisberger also suggested that perhaps that was a play that Tomlin and/or Canada called because they simply wanted the ball in Pickett’s hands because they felt he was their best option.

Given how Harris was finally starting to get in a rhythm prior to that play, though, I’m not sure why they would’ve felt that — especially with how Pickett and the pass blocking had been struggling.

But, based on his explanation, what confused Roethlisberger the most is that the play didn’t strike him as one that would be included in the gameday package for specialty short-yardage situations on third or fourth down.

“It didn’t feel like a specialty play,” Roethlisberger said. “Fourth-and-1, third-and-1, some of those plays, you have specialty plays. You have moments where — even if it was a triple reverse, something where it’s like, ‘OK, this is a unique situation for a unique play.’ To me, it looked like that play was a very basic play.”

Another theory that Roethlisberger advanced is that the Steelers could’ve had a change of plan during the timeout they called prior to the play.

“Maybe they were going to sneak it, and then they talked about it during the timeout. They saw something. There’s a lot of what ifs,” Roethlisberger added. “I just did not like coming to shotgun and really limiting yourself, especially how hard Najee was running. … At least give yourself a chance to do it that way. Now, obviously, if they convert it, everyone is like, ‘Yay! Yay!’ But, man, you didn’t give yourself many options.”

On top of all that, Pickett was injured during the play. He suffered a knee injury that, according to reports, isn’t going to be a long-term issue. But it could potentially keep him from playing this week against the Baltimore Ravens.

Mike Tomlin may provide more clarity during his weekly Tuesday news conference.