Throughout the years, Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin have had some terrific battles.
More often than not, Belichick and his New England Patriots have emerged victorious in those matchups with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s generated some hatred from the Steelers’ fan base, and rightfully so.
On the field though, there’s nothing but respect, especially between Belichick and Tomlin.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday ahead of the Thursday night matchup at Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore against the Steelers, Belichick spoke glowingly of Tomlin and the Steelers.
“Yeah, a ton of respect for Mike and the Steeler program. They’ve been very consistent through the years. They’re pretty good every year. Sometimes great. Sometimes it’s pretty good, but they’re there again this year. They’re right there. They’ve got a good, solid team,” Belichick said, according to video via the Patriots’ YouTube page. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They’re not a heavily penalized team. They don’t turn the ball over a lot. They do a good job of taking the ball away.
“They’re a good fundamental team, and you gotta go out there and play a good football game to beat ’em.”
Those words from Belichick might not be what Steelers fans want to hear, especially after Sunday’s debacle against the Arizona Cardinals. But it’s the truth.
The Steelers are largely a disciplined team. They don’t turn the ball over much at all, and they very clearly take the football away at a high rate defensively. Penalties aren’t all that much of an issue, for the most part. In recent weeks they have been, but throughout the season the Steelers have been one of the NFL’s least-penalized teams.
When you have a team that is smart and safe with the football offensively, takes the football away a lot defensively and avoids the penalties, it makes it a difficult team to play and beat. That’s what the Steelers are.
They’ll have to prove that again on Thursday night against Belichick and the Patriots. Last season, the Steelers didn’t have an answer for New England and made too many mistakes in a 17-14 loss at home. Now, Mitch Trubisky gets another crack at the Patriots and Belichick, this time in prime time.
Two Hall of Fame head coaches going against each other rolling with backup quarterbacks and great defenses. Let’s see who comes out on top.
