Mike Tomlin gives his press conference early in the week before each game, 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 tidbits, here is everything we have written about so far today from the press conference:
Injury Update: T.J. Watt Ruled Out For Wild-Card Game
Mike Tomlin: Defenses Taking Away WR George Pickens ‘Creates Big-Time Opportunities For Others’
‘Good Problem To Have’: Return Of Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee Creates Logjam
Depth Chart Doesn’t Matter: Tomlin Not Focused On ‘Pieces Of Paper’ To Rank Quarterbacks
‘T.J. Is One Of A Kind:’ Mike Tomlin On How Steelers Will Fill Watt’s Shoes
STEELERS TO CONTINUE LEANING ON NAJEE HARRIS
RB Najee Harris quietly secured his third-straight 1,000-yard season in as many years in the NFL. He is the first running back to do so since Alfred Morris in the early 2010s. He has been the model of consistency and reliability, even if the top-end play has been missing at times, Harris is in rare air for durability among running backs, having never missed a game in his career. He is built well — Harris is listed 6-1, 242 pounds on the team website — and that positions him nicely for cold-weather football.
The Steelers will be on the road against the Buffalo Bills for the Wild-Card Round of the AFC playoffs, and it figures to be a cold and possibly snowy day. It was cold and rainy in Week 18 and Harris had his second-straight 100-yard rushing performance. Tomlin was asked what has allowed Harris to have so much success late in the season.
“He’s a big back. We value big backs here in Pittsburgh. The attrition component that is the season, the weather component, it’s just teed up for guys with skill sets like his,” Tomlin said.
Harris has proven a lot of people wrong with his play late in the season. Earlier in the year, many were calling for rising RB Jaylen Warren to get the feature-back role. His usage did increase, but Harris has led the way for the most part. Tomlin was asked how Warren’s increased usage has benefited Harris.
“I don’t know that it affects Najee at all, man,” Tomlin said. “Najee has a mindset, he’s going to be ready to play for us.”
LIMITING JOSH ALLEN IS PRIORITY NUMBER ONE
Not that this is groundbreaking news, but if the Steelers hope beat the Bills on Sunday and advance in the playoffs, limiting QB Josh Allen will be the top priority. His playmaking ability with both his arm and his legs can create large problems for opposing defenses. The Bills have a number of weapons and Allen does a nice job distributing the ball to all of them.
“If you’re talking about slowing them down offensively, man, you start first and foremost with Josh Allen,” Tomlin said. “[He] is just an incredible competitor. They utilize his talents and his competitive spirit very well. That can be displayed by their designed run game in weighty moments, possession down, red zone situational moments. He’s got 15 rushing touchdowns on the season. Boy, that is something to deal with.”
Those 15 rushing touchdowns tied Allen for the league-lead with Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts. It will be important for the Steelers’ defense to win on early downs. If the Bills get into 3rd and manageable consistently, it will be hard to contain all of the different weapons on top of the challenge that Allen’s legs pose. But his aggressive play style has some drawbacks to it as well. The Bills had the fifth-most giveaways this season, and 18 of the 30 were via Allen interceptions.
“What is a blessing can be a curse,” Tomlin said. “I’m sure that they don’t mind managing that because the positive components of it. I just got respect for him. We’ve competed against him a bunch. We better be ready to play.”
BILLS’ DEFENSIVE FRONT EXCELS AT CREATING HAVOC
When it comes to the Bills’ defense, the big guys up front define the unit. This is evidenced by the 54 sacks they racked up as a unit this season. In three starts this season, Mason Rudolph has been sacked six times, including once in the final drive of the game against the Indianapolis Colts after he came in off the bench for two drives. For the most part, the Steelers’ offensive line has been good at protecting the quarterback this season, allowing just 36 sacks, but the linemen will have their hands full against the Bills’ front.
“They have unbelievable talent and depth up front,” Tomlin said. “They had a formidable group, man, going into last summer. They added to that group with Leonard Floyd, and I think he’s added 10 and a half [sacks] for ’em. They did long contract business with [Ed] Oliver, he’s got nine and a half [sacks]…some of the young edge dynamic guys they’ve drafted and you’re watching them develop in all the appropriate ways and impact games in dynamic ways, whether it’s sack, sack fumbles, or tip passes.”
