Mike Tomlin was happy after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason opener, a strong overall showing in a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was even happier after avoiding any press conference questions from the media. Last Saturday’s smiles were replaced by a scowl after the Steelers’ 17-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The defeat itself didn’t eat away at Tomlin. The sloppy play to get there was.
“It was self-inflicted wounds for us tonight that determined the outcome of the game, I thought,” Tomlin said during his opening remarks carried by the team’s YouTube channel. “You turn the ball over, you’re going to reduce your chances of winning. I thought we stalled a lot of drives offensively with penalties that put us behind the sticks and put us in less-than-advantageous possession downs. I think we were 0-of-5 at the half as an example of that.”
It was clear early the Steelers wouldn’t repeat the team’s mostly clean preseason debut. QB Mason Rudolph was picked on the team’s second play of the game, a throw Rudolph admitted was too late and ill-advised. Pittsburgh finished the game with three turnovers, a pick by all three quarterbacks. Skylar Thompson was intercepted with the Steelers deep in opposing territory as Mike Tomlin’s argument for pass interference were ignored. Reserve quarterback Logan Woodside threw an ugly pick on a late throw to set up the Bucs’ game-winning field goal as time expired.
Sloppy play didn’t just come in the form of turnovers. Penalties were a problem, too.
“We got a penalty, roughing the kicker, where they were settling for three and we put them back on the field and they eventually got a touchdown,” Tomlin said. “And you lose games when things like that happen.”
Backup slot cornerback D’Shawn Jamison was flagged for roughing the kicker, keeping a Tampa Bay drive alive. Two plays later, QB Teddy Bridgewater hit RB Bucky Irving for a 15-yard touchdown to give the Buccaneers a 7-0 lead. Jamison atoned for the mistake by forcing a fumble in the second half but in a game in which Pittsburgh lost by three, giving up those extra four points speaks volumes.
Defensively, Pittsburgh wasn’t as sharp, either.
“We lost leverage in the red zone in some passes there early on,” Tomlin said. “Allowed them to score seven. And we gotta make people settle for three on the short field. We spend too much time working in the short field. We understand how important leverage is in that space. But we didn’t execute it.”
Bridgewater threw his second touchdown pass of the night to rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, the first-round pick beating cornerback Brandin Echols to the corner and adjusting to make the scoring grab. Bridgewater faced pressure but when he had a clean pocket, he picked apart the Steelers’ defense with 85 yards and two scores on just six completions. Drops by some of his targets prevented Bridgewater’s night from being even better.
Pittsburgh finished the game worse on third down, with more turnovers, and matching Tampa Bay with seven penalties. It’s a recipe to lose and made the outcome predictable. Fortunately, many of the errors were made by Steelers who won’t be starting come Week 1. Not that it’ll make Tomlin sleep any easier after reviewing the tape. Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh is back on the field to try to right its wrongs.
