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. 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.
For the full press conference, visit the Steelers’ YouTube channel.
Before we get into the tidbits, here is everything we have written about so far today from the press conference:
Injury Roundup: ‘Light On’ For Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kenny Pickett Dealing With Ankle Discomfort
Freiermuth’s Return Boosted Pickett’s Play, Tomlin Says
‘Can’t Say Enough About Him’: Tomlin Praises S Damontae Kazee For His Communication, Steady Play
‘T.J. Is The Best Defensive Player On The Planet:’ Mike Tomlin Describes Watt’s Value
DIONTAE JOHNSON’S NO-TOUCHDOWN RULING AND REPLAY REVIEW PROCEDURE
Diontae Johnson caught a pass in the back of the end zone, but it was ruled incomplete by the officials. On the next play, Jaylen Warren fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by the Bengals. This would be getting talked about a lot more if the Steelers had lost the game. Here is what Tomlin had to say about opting not to challenge and the procedural stuff surrounding that decision.
“You don’t always get an opportunity to get a timely look at things, particularly as it pertains to scoring plays. Oftentimes I proceed with the assumption that if they call it a non-scoring play, then I believe they’re not speculating in any way. Obviously, we have automatic replay for scoring plays and that component, that mechanism. I think if there was any question in their judgment, they probably would’ve called it a scoring play and allowed the automatic review to happen. So sometimes when I’m in road stadiums, if I don’t get a look or if it’s not provided in-stadium, I ride with that premise and that knowing because I know how games are officiated.”
With the automatic replay review on scoring plays, the ruling on the field should err on the side of a touchdown. That way, the play can automatically be reviewed. Other than that, if he isn’t able to get a good look at himself, he is reliant on either his player banging the table for it, or just trusting the process for the officials to go through the correct procedure. In this case, they did not, but his logic is sound.
“I’m not gonna disclose how we divide our labor up,” Tomlin continued. “But rest assured there’s somebody that’s on that job each and every week, home and away, all season. Regular season, pre-season, post-season.”
TWO-HEADED BACKFIELD PRESENTS ISSUES FOR OPPOSING DEFENSES
The Pittsburgh Steelers have found a ton of success running the football over the last month. One week, Jaylen Warren will lead the way with yards and touches, the next it will be Najee Harris. It is a true two-headed backfield. Tomlin had this to say about the kinds of issues that situation presents to opposing defenses.
“Sometimes when you have a two-back system, there’s a bright line regarding the division of labor. One guy’s an inside guy, one guy’s an outside guy, and so you are able to balance what one guy does and another guy does. This is a little different, to be quite honest with you. Both guys do really kind of everything. So…you’re dealing with the entire playbook, and you’re just simply dealing with fresh backs all the time. That’s challenging from a defensive perspective.”
RUN THE FOOTBALL AND STOP THE RUN
The Steelers have not only been running the ball well, but they have also been stopping the run of opposing teams. Last week, the Cincinnati Bengals rushed for just 25 yards. Without their starting quarterback, their game plan had to include a healthy dose of runs, but it was stopped so effectively that they had to toss it out the window. That type of success at the line of scrimmage is starting to become this team’s identity down the stretch of the season.
“The things that tee up weighty downs, the non-situational moments. 1st and 10, 2nd and medium, the run game component of that. You’re gonna win more possession downs on defense if it’s third and long, you’re gonna win more possession downs on offense if it’s third and manageable. Therein lies the significance of the run game component and the line of scrimmage on both sides. We’ve been trending in that way for several weeks, and it needs to continue.”
ARIZONA’S DEFENSE EMPLOYING THE FIVE-MAN FRONT
The Steelers play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. While they only have two wins this season, one of them was against the high-flying Dallas Cowboys. Tomlin spoke about the challenges that their defense can create due to the wide range of personnel they employ.
“They do a lot of things schematically. They throw a lot at you. They probably do it out of necessity. They’ve experienced some attrition in their unit. Isaiah Simmons, they traded at the linebacker level. Kyzir White is now on IR, and so they got new people in at linebacker. I think they are utilizing a five-man front to balance some of that out which is smart ball. The five-man front is challenging. They do a plethora of things out of it. They do it in base, they do it in sub. We gotta do a really good job of dealing with the number of people that they play along the line of scrimmage. It really minimizes your ability to double-team and get movement. It’s been an asset to them. You gotta have versatile guys. Man, they play a lot of people…so we got our hands full from that perspective in dealing with some of those things.”
