Throughout Sunday’s embarrassing 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at Acrisure Stadium in Week 13, the Pittsburgh Steelers saw self-inflicted mistakes rear their ugly heads, costing the Steelers time and time again.
There were too many pre-snap penalties offensively, not to mention a pre-snap penalty defensively in the fourth quarter after a timeout. Poor snaps from center Mason Cole, and a terrible individual day on special teams from captain Miles Killebrew did in the Steelers in frustrating fashion Sunday.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, on a short week leading up to Thursday Night Football against the New England Patriots, there’s only one way to correct the mistakes.
“Keep working. There’s multiple components to getting better. Messaging is just one of them. Physical work is probably a more significant component and that’s why these days in prep for performance are so big,” Tomlin said to reporters Sunday, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “You can never tire from seeking perfection and working to improve on a daily basis. Even when you get into the season, like we are particularly, because of the attrition component.”
It’s a short week, so it’s not like major changes can occur for the Steelers between now and Thursday’s matchup against the Patriots. That said, the Steelers did make a lineup change the last time they played on a short week on Thursday night, inserting rookie Broderick Jones into the lineup over Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle.
Chances of that happening this week from a lineup change due to pre- and post-snap mistakes seems slim, but never say never.
Sunday’s performance was frustrating due to the self-inflicted mistakes because it’s not a talent issue, it’s a mental thing. Being unable to line up properly pre-snap is a routine thing, one that should be second nature at this point in the season. It’s basic install stuff.
Snapping the football is rather basic, standard stuff, too. That’s where Tomlin’s saying of “routine things routinely” comes into play. The Steelers didn’t do that Sunday.
Now, on a short week they have to figure it out — and fast. It might be a challenge, but Tomlin and the Steelers aren’t complaining about it, instead just focusing on going back to work.
“The same could be said for the challenges in New England. And so from that standpoint, it’s fair. I don’t waste a lot of time worrying about the challenges. As long as they’re fair, competitively fair and equal for both parties, then we just go to work,” Tomlin said.
Back to work for the Steelers. Still plenty of football ahead, and they have a must-win game staring them down on a short week.
