Mike Tomlin has his press conference early in the week before each game, breaking down 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 from the press conference:
Injury Roundup: Tomlin Leaves ‘Door Ajar’ For Watt, Other Injured Steelers To Play Against Ravens
Mike Tomlin ‘Optimistic’ About T.J. Watt’s Availability For Saturday
Mike Tomlin Explains Decision To Punt While Trailing In 4th Quarter
Referee’s Explanation On Unnecessary Roughness Penalty During Punt Doesn’t Satisfy Mike Tomlin
With Donte Jackson’s Status In Question, Mike Tomlin ‘Completely Comfortable’ With Secondary Options
‘Play To Win:’ Tomlin Gave No Thought To Sitting Starters In Ugly Eagles Loss
Tomlin: Steelers ‘Respect The Work That’s Ahead’ In Preparing For Ravens, Not Resting On Past Success
Ravens Defense ‘About As Different As You Can Get’ Since Week 11 Matchup, Mike Tomlin Says
PHYSICALITY CAN’T BE BUILT LATE
The Steelers are entering Week 16, and at this point, it’s too late to teach a team how to be physical. While the Steelers had issues with tackling on Sunday in their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, physicality hasn’t been a problem for most of the season, and Mike Tomlin said it’s beyond the point of teaching it.
“You don’t. That is money already in the bank. That’s why we approach team development the way that we do. That’s why we tackle in Latrobe every day that we have pads on. That’s why we do not run away from, you know, building skill in that area and a mindset in that area at the early stages of team development because we realize you don’t get an opportunity to recoup that, particularly with how practices are scheduled in today’s NFL.”
The Steelers are one of the teams that tackle in practice during the season and fully embrace it during training camp. That mindset shapes them well during the season, and it’s something that’s been a real emphasis under Tomlin. A soft team is usually not very good, and the Steelers have been a physical team. A lapse against the Eagles, where they missed an exorbitant number of tackles, doesn’t change that, but it might be something that gets re-emphasized this week.
RED ZONE ISSUES BIG FACTOR IN LOSS
The Steelers made several mistakes in their loss to the Eagles, but Mike Tomlin singled out two missed opportunities as a big reason why they lost. Tomlin thought Pittsburgh not converting off their takeaway from a fumble recovery on a punt that put them at the Philadelphia 11 with a touchdown and Najee Harris’ fumble at the Philadelphia 26 were squandered opportunities.
“I thought the game could be summarized into a couple red zone possessions we didn’t maximize. We had the ball in their territory when we had the fumble recovery on our punt team, and we settled for a field goal. And then, in the second half, we were driving into the red zone after a big play on the flea flicker, and we fumbled the ball. And when you’re playing good people and the road gets narrow, you gotta maximize those red zone possessions.”
The play after Pittsburgh recovered Cooper DeJean’s fumble, the Steelers were flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness after a post-play scuffle, which set the drive back, and the Harris fumble with the Steelers driving and looking to tie the game was a killer. But the Steelers just weren’t good enough all around on Sunday. They missed too many tackles, had a brutal start offensively, and couldn’t get off the field on third downs. Those two chances were big, and the game may have been different had Pittsburgh done a better job in those scenarios. However, the Steelers still had chances to win and couldn’t capitalize.
NO WORD FROM NEW YORK ON SCUFFLE
Speaking of the post-play scuffle, Mike Tomlin has not heard from the league office about it as he hasn’t had a chance to talk to them yet. Referee Alan Eck said in the pool report that the officiating crew didn’t see the Eagles throw any punches despite the video that clearly shows punches being thrown. Instead of offsetting penalties, only the Steelers were flagged, but Tomlin is moving on and focusing on the Baltimore Ravens.
“I didn’t read the pool report because I saw it as it happened, and I didn’t have a chance to talk to New York because I’ve been so focused on what’s been going on with Baltimore in the present day.”
It was poor officiating, only flagging the Steelers and somehow missing some pretty clear punches being thrown, but at the end of the day, the Steelers need to do a better job converting throughout the game. With a big opportunity against the Ravens on Saturday to try and clinch the AFC North, Tomlin is looking ahead and not worrying about the past, which is the right mindset with a game of this magnitude ahead.
