The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off another thrilling, last second victory to keep their season alive. After beating the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve, the Steelers went into hostile territory to defeat the rival Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The goal on defense was simple; stop the run. After running all over the Steelers for 215 yards in the Week 14 victory, Pittsburgh clearly had a different plan heading into Baltimore.
2022 seventh-round pick LB Mark Robinson was given a huge role in the defense last week. In just his third appearance of his rookie campaign, he accounted for 50% of the defensive snaps and recorded 7 total tackles to help beat Baltimore. Steeler fans across social media had been begging for Robinson to get more snaps, and he got just that in the biggest game of the season.
On today’s airing of The Mike Tomlin Show via the team’s YouTube channel, Coach Tomlin was asked about the schematic approach that was taken in Week 17, and how Mark Robinson has developed over the course of the season.
“First of all, he has some traits that you can’t coach, and I’m always interested in that,” he told host Bob Pompeani. “He has an appetite for confrontation and the physical component of the game and that’s something that we can’t coach. The other things teaching, learning, anticipation, feel for the game we can assist with a large component of those things. And so that’s probably the story of Mark Rob in terms of him getting an opportunity to ascend over the course of the journey.”
Robinson was a beast his senior year at Ole Miss. He racked up an impressive 91 total tackles, five and a half tackles for loss, and even got three sacks. The seventh round of the draft is usually a “shot in the dark” pick, but the Steelers may have nailed this one. It’s going to be exciting watching him become a bigger part of the teams’ defense next season, especially with the looming contact situation revolving around Devin Bush.
“He’s getting better, he’s learning some of the things that are coached, but he’s maintained those things that aren’t coached. Things which are his competitive spirit, his physicality and things of that nature.”
His effort really stood out in last week’s performance, in a huge game versus a divisional rival, with the season on the line. The bright lights of Sunday Night Football didn’t seem to faze Robinson one bit.
Even though DC Teryl Austin hinted Robinson will play less in Week 18, you have to think he’ll get some snaps against another potent running offense that is the Cleveland Browns. Led by Nick Chubb, the Browns are coming off a solid victory against the Washington Commanders and are looking to play the spoiler role in Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon. With a potential playoff berth on the line, expect an intense atmosphere at Acrisure Stadium.
