Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has been around a long time in the NFL. He’s been the head coach of the Steelers for 17 years and counting.
In that time, he’s had quite a bit of success against rookie quarterbacks. Tomlin and the Steelers will get a crack at another one on Sunday, this time at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Week 11 as the Browns will start rookie fifth-round draft pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson following the injury to Deshaun Watson, ending his season Wednesday.
Entering Sunday’s matchup against the Browns and their rookie quarterback, Tomlin and the Steelers are 24-5 against rookie quarterbacks. That’s a large sample size overall.
Good news for Thompson-Robinson though is that the Steelers are just 1-1 on the season against rookies, defeating Tennessee’s Will Levis in Week Nine, 20-16, but losing to red-hot rookie Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud in Week Four, 30-6. So, beating the Steelers as a rookie quarterback can be done.
But for Good Morning Football’s Jason McCourty, Thompson-Robinson could be in for a long day on Sunday.
“This Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is no joke. And not only that, Mike Tomlin, his record against rookie quarterbacks and what he’s been able to do, you look at that right there, five and 24, the amount of touchdown passes, the interception ratio, they’ve been able to go out there and dominate,” McCourty said, according to video via GMFB’s Twitter page. “The funny thing is they’ve been able to win 10 out of their last 11. That one rookie quarterback that beat him, C.J. Stroud, that was this year when he put on that dominating performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“So for DTR it’s gonna be a tough road ahead. You’re going against a really good defense and you’re rookie quarterback going against a Mike Tomlin-led team. So it’s gonna be fascinating to see how he is able to come out here.”
In Tomlin’s career, he’s done very well against rookie quarterbacks thanks to a defense that creates a ton of pressure and gets after the opposing quarterback early and often, getting him off his game. The Steelers also do a good job of disguising coverages against rookies, forcing them into mistakes.
They’ll have to do that again on Sunday against Thompson-Robinson, who is making just his second career start. The last time he started for the Browns was in Week Four against the Baltimore Ravens. He proceeded to throw for just 121 yards and three interceptions, though he didn’t find out until the morning of the game that he was starting due to a Watson injury.
It’ll be a little different this time around for Thompson-Robinson.
But a track record like the one the Steelers have against rookie quarterbacks is strong.
Not only are the Steelers 24-5 against rookie quarterbacks under Tomlin, they are allowing a completion rate of just 55%, 200.1 passing yards per game, 29 touchdowns to 30 interceptions and a 72.8 passer rating.
So far this season Pittsburgh has deployed a bend-don’t-break defense, sitting 25th or worse in a number of defensive categories. Yet, the Steelers are first in takeaways and top 10 in fewest points allowed per game. They’re going to give up yards, but yards don’t equal points. So far, that bend-don’t-break strategy is working for the Steelers. We’ll see if it can work again, this time against another rookie quarterback on the road.
