It’s hard to imagine last weekend going much better for the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially since they were on their bye week. All three of the other AFC North teams lost. The Steelers sit at 4-1 and comfortably atop the division standings. That has to be a positive for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Right? Well, according to Tomlin, he wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention.
“I don’t care what happened with other people, particularly last weekend,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference, per video from the team’s YouTube channel. “It’s about us coming off the bye and getting ready for our game this week. I’m not a big-picture guy.”
Now, Tomlin had to pay attention to at least one AFC North game to get ready for this weekend. The Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns in Pittsburgh this weekend. So, undoubtedly he and his staff were watching (and re-watching) the Browns’ loss the Minnesota Vikings in London. Based on Tomlin’s discussions of Browns rookie QB Dillon Gabriel, he certainly cared about what happened in that game.
And since the Browns played Sunday morning due to it being an international game, there was plenty of time to at least observe the results of the rest of the AFC North. The Cincinnati Bengals fell to the Detroit Lions, and the Baltimore Ravens got walloped by the Houston Texans. I struggle to believe that Tomlin didn’t at least crack a sly grin at the outcome of the Ravens’ game.
But Mike Tomlin’s overall sentiment should be the correct one, at least as an NFL head coach. Yes, the best way forward in the NFL playoffs is winning your division. And the results last weekend certainly made Pittsburgh’s path forward clearer and easier.
But Tomlin cannot be focusing on the standings, at least at this point in the season. The Steelers have only played four games so far. There is entirely too much time to be focusing on how the rest of the division is faring. Sure, it’s good to know your destiny is completely in your control. But the Steelers and Tomlin know they have a lot of areas to improve in. That, and preparations for the next game, needs to be their focus each and every week.
But fans can certainly enjoy watching the rest of the AFC North collectively flounder. Even if oddsmakers still favor the Ravens to win the division over the Steelers.
