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:
Steelers Injury Update: Heyward Sick, McCormick Has Broken Hand
Steelers ‘Open’ To Using Justin Fields Against Ravens
Mike Tomlin Expects Cory Trice Jr. To Build Upon ‘Really Good Experience’ Against Bengals
Playing In Baltimore In Wild Card Round The ‘Tax’ For Losing AFC North, Mike Tomlin Says
‘Doesn’t Get Routine:’ Mike Tomlin Says Ravens Being Familiar Opponent Makes Playoff Game ‘More Complex’
Mike Tomlin Looking For George Pickens To ‘Bounce Back’ To Pre-Injury Form In Playoffs
Tomlin Remains Confident Steelers Can Get Playoff Win, Break Drought
Mike Tomlin Considering Expanding WR Mike Williams’ Role
Tomlin: Russell Wilson’s ‘Spotty’ Performance Reflective Of Team’s Performance Over Last Month
‘Open For Discussion:’ Mike Tomlin Says Run-Heavy Plan Against Bengals Might’ve Been Wrong Decision
NEED TO PLAY BETTER ON SPECIAL TEAMS AGAINST RAVENS
The last time the Steelers played the Ravens, a Week 16 loss in Baltimore, the game was rife with missed opportunities for Pittsburgh. One of those came on special teams when the Ravens fumbled on a punt return early in the game, and the Steelers failed to recover. Mike Tomlin preached the special teams component of the game in his press conference and said the Steelers need to be on their A-game.
“They got big-time continuity in special teams. They have for a long time. They got a mode of operation there. I would imagine the special teams component is gonna be big in a game like this. It was the last time we came together. We had a ball on the ground very early in the game in the punt game that we didn’t recover. We had one later that we did recover, and gave us an opportunity. So we gotta be on the top of our A-game there and look to find an advantage if we can in that space.”
When Pittsburgh was winning games earlier this season, one of the big reasons was the success of their special teams units. While Chris Boswell is still a weapon for the Steelers, they have to do a better job in the kick and punt return game, limiting returns and taking advantage of opportunities to create turnovers when they come. If there’s another ball on the ground, the Steelers need to jump on it and give themselves as good of a chance as possible to recover and give them extra possessions to beat the Ravens.
The Steelers need to improve in all facets from the last four games, and special teams is a big one.
NEED TO REMEDY SLOW STARTS
One of the biggest issues for the Steelers over the last month has been the offense starting slow and falling into an early deficit. They haven’t led once during their current four-game losing streak, and the offense has to do a better job early in games. While Mike Tomlin said the Steelers weren’t sounding the alarm on their slow starts quite yet, they know it’s an area they need to remedy.
“I don’t know that I’d use the term alarm, but certainly, we’re analyzing all components of it in an effort to remedy it.”
The Steelers can’t afford to start slow against the Ravens on Saturday. If they do, they won’t win unless the defense puts up a Herculean effort. Arthur Smith needs to be more aggressive in his play-calling, and the Steelers need to figure out why they haven’t been able to score points early. We’ll see how much the work to remedy it fixes Pittsburgh’s issues come Saturday.
DON’T NEED TO RESTORE CONFIDENCE
While losing four games in a row is a gut punch, Tomlin doesn’t think the Steelers are a team lacking confidence. He cited the team’s success over the season as a reason they haven’t lost confidence while adding that their hating their recent performances isn’t a sign of a lack of confidence in themselves.
“I don’t know that it needs to be restored. I just know that we’ve been in too many battles, and we’ve had too much success to be fragile in that way. We certainly can hate our recent performances and the outcome of those recent performances, but I don’t think it’s reflected in terms of how we feel about ourselves or the ability to make plays or engineer victory or win games.”
The Steelers have proven they can be a good team and that they can beat the Ravens this season. The team that’s shown up over the last four games isn’t the team that showed up for the first 14 weeks of the season, and the Steelers have to find a way to get back to being that team. Not being down in the dumps and lacking faith will help them find answers, and hopefully, they can do so and find a way to come out on top and beat the Ravens on Saturday.
