With 3:24 left in the Steelers-Browns game Sunday night, the Steelers led 10-3 and the had 4th and 7 on the Steelers' 20 yard line. The Browns kicked a field goal. Then kicked deep and the Steelers basically ran out the clock (and should have done so if Willie Parker had stayed in bounds).

David Romer wrote the classic article on why teams should go for it more often on 4th down (summarized by Gregg Easterbrook here). Applying the market test (and leaving aside the technicalities)--as a Steelers' fan I was absolutely ecstatic that the Browns decided to kick a field goal in that situation.

Romer's general analysis seems compelling to me, which strongly implies that in that situation you'd want to go for it. Can any readers provide any reason to believe that the Browns made the right decision? John Madden and Al Michaels both thought that the Browns made the right decision, but their rationale (it would've been bad for the Browns' morale) wasn't much of an argument.