Something new we’re doing for Steelers Depot. Every Tuesday is a Tomlin Tuesday, his noon press conference outlining what happened the previous weekend and focusing on the upcoming one. With the Steelers playing on Thursday Night this week, today became a Tomlin Monday. While we’ll write about the most notable things Tomlin had to say in separate articles, we’ll throw in a couple of smaller nuggets of information in this post. A one-stop shop for the rest of what Coach T had to say.
And if you want to hear the full press conference, hop on over to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ YouTube channel by clicking the link here.
Before we get into tidbits, here’s everything we’ve written so far today.
Tomlin Downplays Defense Forcing Three Jags Turnovers: ‘They Weren’t Ones That Teed Up The Offense’
Tomlin: Steelers Looking At ‘Multi-Man Job’ Replacing Injured Minkah Fitzpatrick
Held To One Catch, Mike Tomlin Says Jaguars Took George Pickens Out Of Steelers’ Game Plan
Mike Tomlin: ‘Winning Definitively’ Would Make Controversial Calls ‘Less Significant’ Amid Loss To Jags
Mike Tomlin States Steelers Are ‘Always Open For Business’ Ahead Of Trade Deadline
Mike Tomlin Confirms Joey Porter Jr. Is Steelers’ Full-Time Starting Corner?
Mike Tomlin Explains Why Rodney Williams Had More Snaps Than Darnell Washington In Week Eight
TOMLIN TALKS MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
The Steelers struggled offensively, scoring just three first-half points against the Jaguars on Sunday. While three points were taken off the board due to a controversial offsides penalty on a Chris Boswell field goal at the end of the half, at the end of the day, the offense wasn’t good enough. Tomlin specifically pointed out three instances where he felt the Steelers had an opportunity to get the offense going and failed to do so.
“I thought we had some opportunities early to gain better traction, but we didn’t seize those. Very first play of the game, we had Diontae [Johnson] running down the middle, for example. Very next possession, we had George [Pickens] on a corner route, kind of behind. the defender that we weren’t able to connect on. We got in the red zone, Diontae slipped in the end zone. That was a four-point kind of a play. So that’s kind of where we are.”
Those missed opportunities put the Steelers’ offense behind the eight ball early. For an offense that’s thrived on momentum and stacking positive plays, those missed opportunities were a killer. The first play of the game was a one that Johnson should’ve made, and the throw to Pickens later in the first quarter was just a miss by QB Kenny Pickett. The offensive execution has to be better, and the Steelers need to take advantage of their opportunities. For more on Pittsburgh’s missed opportunities, you can check out Josh Carney’s film room on those three plays.
Defending Derrick Henry
The Tennessee Titans are coming to Pittsburgh for Thursday Night Football this week, and that means the Steelers are going to have to bottle up their All-Pro running back in Derrick Henry. Tomlin talked about the challenge Henry poses on Monday.
“They play off of the exploits of Derrick Henry. We got to do a really good job of working to minimize him, but that’s just a component of it. Their play-action passing game, their misdirection passing game, all of those things feed off his talents. You better do a really good job of bottling him up at the line of scrimmage. You can’t let him get to the second and third level clean, if he does he’s a real problem. His long speed is an issue. His size and strength is obviously an issue. His free hand is an issue. He’s got one of the best stiff arms around and his ability to utilize it to extend big plays is something special.”
Henry comes into the Week Nine contest with 526 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and last year he ran for 1,538 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Pittsburgh run defense hasn’t been all that great this season, and the Steelers are going to need to be better against Henry. Under center, the Titans will likely roll with rookie QB Will Levis, who threw four touchdown passes in his debut on Sunday. The Titans’ offense could pose a banged-up Steelers defense problems on Sunday.
No Comment On Officiating
Pittsburgh Steelers OG Isaac Seumalo was flagged for offsides on a field goal attempt yesterday, a play that Tomlin said he hadn’t seen in his 17 years of being a head coach. He was asked whether that play and the officiating are things that he would seek clarity from the league about, but Tomlin declined to comment.
“I’m gonna keep those comments to myself.”
Tomlin was also asked if the neutral zone was an emphasis on the call due to increased usage of quarterback push plays in short-yardage situations, as former NFL referee Mike Pereira said the rule is meant for those plays. Tomlin again gave a non-answer.
“I am not gonna speculate on that.”
