Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his post game press conference following the 23-10 win Sunday to the Buffalo Bills and below is a transcript of what he had to say during the session courtesy of steelers.com.
Mike Tomlin: That was a good performance in a lot of areas by a lot of people, but particularly after the first initial drive there where we turned the ball over. I thought we were able to settle down and find rhythm and establish the running game and convert some third downs. I thought the defense was game today. A lot of quality efforts by a lot of people. On the injury front, we had a few. Shamarko Thomas had an ankle, LaMarr Woodley hurt his calf and Ramon Foster hurt his ankle as well. All three guys are being evaluated. I don’t know about their availability here moving forward. I’ll have more detailed information for you on Tuesday.
What was the biggest difference in your ability to stop the run?
Mike Tomlin: We tackled well. It’s fundamental. You maintain your ground, you shed blocks, you make tackles and you’re where you’re supposed to be. That’s what we were able to do.
Were guys getting sort of out of position the biggest thing holding you back?
Mike Tomlin: I’m not talking about the past. I’m just talking about what happened today, evaluating this performance. Guys did a nice job today.
Was that the kind of bounce-back performance you expected?
Mike Tomlin: Yes, it really was. It’s what they’re capable of and that’s the type of men we have.
Did you notice any different type of attitude coming off of last week’s game? Any kind of defiance or pulling together?
Mike Tomlin: It was appropriate. We had an embarrassing performance a week ago. You’ve got to swallow it and chew it, and we did. We didn’t let it stop our preparation, and obviously, you measure preparation on performance. So it was a good week.
How much of a factor was the wind in that game, particularly early on?
Mike Tomlin: It was a factor, but it was a factor for both teams. I’m not going to make it out to be something that it’s not. The ball hung up there. We threw an interception. The ball hung up here. They threw an interception. Both teams had punts that they wish they could have back, so forth and so on. That’s the nature of football when you play outside.
When you get into a game like that, having the running game like you had it going today becomes much more important, does it not?
Mike Tomlin: It is. It’s always important, but we didn’t have any hesitation about Ben’s [Roethlisberger] ability to cut to the wind. He’s a bad-weather guy. Playing in those types of conditions is something I think that he looks forward to.
The pundits talked about desperation. Do you think this effort was just more about discipline, as opposed to desperation?
Mike Tomlin: I don’t know about the pundits and all of that. We prepared and then we ultimately performed. That’s what we try to do week-in and week-out. Obviously, we did it with more success today than we did last week.
