Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 9 vs Indianapolis Colts) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 9 vs Indianapolis Colts) | Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] Good afternoon everyone and welcome to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex here on the south side of Pittsburgh. Bob Pompiani here joined by Missy Matthews shortly. This is a Mike Tomlin Tuesday and the Steelers certainly are licking their wounds right now. back-to-back losses, highscoring affairs, including the one this past Sunday, 35-2 against the Green Bay Packers. And that game seemed to be uh certainly in the Steelers favor at halftime, up 16-7. Second half, totally different story as the defense gave up three touchdowns on three possessions to start that second half and then everything changed 28 to9. The Packers outscored them to win 35-25. So, the Steelers have a lot of work to do to fix those problems as this week they go against the number one rated offense in the NFL. That would be the Indianapolis Colts. You look at their numbers and they’re mind-boggling. Starting with Jonathan Taylor, 1,000 scrimmage yards. So, he also has 14 touchdowns. As a group, they have the most rushing touchdowns and touchdowns in general. Then, uh if you go back all the way to 2004, the Kansas City Chiefs, that’s how productive they’ve been. Their point differential is plus 166. And they’re going to be a tough opponent coming here, especially knowing the Steelers are having their issues in the secondary and defensively in particular. So, um, the Steelers have got to certainly get to the quarterback, make more plays that way. When they’ve been at their best, they take the ball away, they force things, they hit the quarterback. And last couple of games hasn’t been uh that way. Daniel Jones is off to a ter terrific start. You know, we talk a lot about second chance opportunities for quarterbacks in the NFL. We’ve seen that. Gino Smith was one of those guys. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and now it’s Daniel Jones. Left the Giants, signed a one-year deal there, and when he first came in, it looked like he was going to be the backup to Anthony Richardson, but he soon took that job away, and he has been on fire under Shane Stiken, their head coach. Um, the numbers are spectacular. They don’t turn the ball over, uh, and they use all of their eligibles. And since the Steelers have had problems with tight ends, we saw that last week with Tucker Craft. You got a guy in here in Tyler Warren out of Penn State who’s having a tremendous rookie season. Of course, it helps to have Jonathan Taylor with a run game. You have Michael Pitman Jr. who made a tremendous catch last week one-handed in the end zone. Um, you also have Alec Pierce taking the ball deep. They got options everywhere. Very difficult to defend them. But the best way to do it is possess the football. And I think in a game like this, time of possession will be a very big part of this game. Uh, when you look at their defense in Cincinnati or in Indianapolis, we talk about the offense and why not? They’re plus 166, but their defense uh under Lou Anarumo and and he, you know, was left to go by Cincinnati. He’s found a home there under Shane Stiken. And boy, what a job he’s done. Uh he’s always been regarded as a very good uh defensive coach, but now he’s got some players who are making plays, especially in the secondary. They have 10 interceptions, and that’s where their game begins. They’re very good at stopping passes down the field. All right, head coach Mike Tomlin is ready to go. Let’s take it upstairs to Mike Tomlin and his Tomlin Tuesday press conference. Good afternoon. Uh as always, I’ll start with a quick review of our last performance. Um as I said after the game, um man, just really disappointing uh on a lot of fronts. Uh but probably the most important component of it is we didn’t put 60 minutes of football together. Um felt like we were doing the things that we needed to do over the course of the first 30 minutes of action. Um although it wasn’t perfect by any stretch. Um you know you’re always a little bit concerned when you’re settling for field goals when you’re playing good people. Uh it seems like touchdowns is how it gets done in our business at this level. And so it was a little bit uh less than comfortable at halftime settling for three field goals. I think those drives were stopped um by penalties and negative plays on first and 10. Um put us in some second and long circumstances. is we didn’t perform very well in second and long. Um not only in the first half of the game, but in the totality of the game. Uh it produced a lot of third and longs in the game. Um that’s low percentage conversion rates for us. That’s low percentage conversion rates for everyone to be quite honest with you. We were in more third and longs in that game than than than we’re comfortable with. And I think we suffered the consequences of that. um particularly as the game wore on. Um on the other side of the ball, um I I thought a couple third down conversions uh in the third quarter were significant, not only in terms of keeping us on the field and and producing touchdowns scoring drives, but I thought it just changed the texture of the day. Um they got 60 yards on one third down conversion, they got 35 on another. Um that’s 100 yards on two plays. um field flipping plays, touchdown drive producing plays, and I just didn’t think we did a nice job uh recovering from those first and foremost. Um you don’t want those plays to happen. Um but after they happen, I didn’t think we did a good enough job recovering from that and and finding our footing as a collective football group, offense, defense, and special teams in an effort to make the the necessary plays over the course of the last 15 minutes to win the game. Uh, regarding those plays, um, we certainly need to be better, uh, in third down than we’ve been, uh, but it doesn’t necessarily mean dramatic changes in terms of schematics and things of that nature. If you look at those two plays, um, on a 60-yard play, the quarterback was hit as he let it go. Um, and so it’s it’s details that are usually the difference when when it’s a millisecond. Um and on the other play, the 35 roughly 35 yard play, um he got outside the pocket on us and extended and and we certainly got to do a better job of keeping him constricted in the pocket, man, and getting two guys at the catch point down the grass. And that’s one thing that we didn’t do in either circumstance. Uh we play a lot of man-free concepts. It usually gives us an opportunity to get two guys at the at the ball down the grass. um we didn’t in those instances and and it produced field flipping drive producing touchdown drive producing plays that really kind of change the texture of the ball game. But for us, you know, we view all three phases as an opportunity to win. We didn’t make the necessary necessary plays and in the three phases to to secure victory. Um there’s some personality things uh that were concerning as the game wore on. Um the turnover component of the game is something that we value here obviously and is one of the building blocks for engineering victory for us. Uh we turned the ball over um in the second half we didn’t get any turnovers. I think that’s the you know second game in a row uh that we didn’t get any turnovers and that hadn’t been us and we certainly need to get back to that component of our of our winning formula. uh pro protecting and preserving the football uh while taking it away from our opponents. That certainly is going to be significant this week. Uh when we lean in and play the Colts, man, they’re a group uh that does that very well. Um from a health standpoint, before I get directly to Indie, I’ll update you on a couple of guys. Um Scotty Miller we talked about last week, man, he had a broken finger. Um it has been repaired. um how functional he is uh will determine his ability to to contribute or or the level or the quality that that contribution. Um Daniel Ekawale has got a ACL injury um that will that will definitively have him out. Um Deshawn Elliott can be declared out this week also with his hyperextended knee. Um Isaac Smallu um can be characterized as questionable with his pec injury. I just had a brief conversation with him in the training room. Uh he’s in a good mindset. He certainly is going to be limited um at the early portions of the week. Um but he’ll he’ll have a chance to contribute particularly because he’s a veteran player. He has some global snaps in his bank uh that could be an asset to him in terms of being ready to play on a limited number of snaps that maybe a younger player um would not have. We got some other bumps and bruises, man, associated with play. uh that may limit some people at the early portions of the week. Um and then we’ll harden that up as we get closer to game time. Uh but not expecting any of those guys to lack availability um at the end of the week. Now on to Indie. Um man, they’re a really good football team, but they need no endorsement from me. Um I’ve been watching the video over the last 48 hours or so. Um it it is telling to be quite honest with you. um starting first and foremost with their offense. Um they’re high scoring. Um they don’t punt very often and and the way that they’re getting that getting that done is is pretty black and white. Um they got a rock solid offensive line that’s been together led by Nelson largely for a number of years. They do a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and getting hats on hats. Um they’re a good zone scheme group. They’re a good gap scheme or pull scheme group. Um, and obviously Nelson is a major component of that. Um, behind that collective, man, they got Jonathan Taylor who is really on top of his game right now, but he has been for a number of years. I think in 2023, he dealt with some injuries, but um 24 through 25 um you see his talents. Um he’s significant. Um he’s got great stop start ability. He’s got great short area burst and vision. He’s got the long speed to finish plays as evidenced by the 80 yard um that he had last week, but he’s always been explosion play capable. When you play a guy like that, man, it’s really an all day job um because of that home run hitting ability. We got to do a really good job of setting the edges um and certainly being in the appropriate gaps. um they do a nice job of running the ball out of a variety of personnel groups and offensive formation structures um that make you um cognizant of that regardless of what they have on the field. Um because they play so well behind Taylor in their running game. I think they’ve really done a nice job of of preserving and protecting the ball. As I mentioned earlier, I think they got four turnovers on the season. Uh Daniel Jones has been spectacular in that space. He’s taking care of the ball. He’s distributed the ball to to a rockolid group of eligibles now that’s been together for a number of years. Um Pitman and Pierce um have been together for a number of years. Um Pitman is is is rough and tumble. He’s got the inb breaking routes. He’s the chain mover, if you will. Uh Pierce has always been a down field threat. Um a guy that to get one-on-one down the grass with us a problem. Um, and certainly coming off last week’s performance, man, where we were in some one-on-one circumstances that were field flipping plays, that certainly has our attention as we prepare today. Um, but it’s not just those two guys. Um, they got DS that plays in the slot is a capable interior slot receiver. Um, they got AD Mitchell, man, a second round pick from a couple years ago who is really talented. And certainly they got their first round pick. Uh the young tight end out of Penn State, man, is that that hadn’t warmed up to it at all. Um man, he’s he’s plugand play. Um not only in terms of his playing ability, but their utilization of them. Um they use him in a variety of schemes. Uh they get the ball in his hands early and often. Um some of the things that you saw on video at Penn State, man, you see on video in Indianapolis. And um but that’s why you take dynamic players like him that high. Um he’s been an intricral component of of what they’ve been able to do offensively. Uh can’t say enough about it. Um kudos to Daniel Jones, man, and his ability to to, you know, redefine um his narrative. Um but, you know, I I doubt that that can be considered an outlier today. Um, it’s a lot of pressure being a young quarterback, man, drafted high, um, in the programs, man, that that that don’t have a lot of traction. There have been a lot of examples of guys when given an opportunity to turn the page and get a new environment. Um, the talents that made them high round draft picks turn up and certainly his um, is turning up in 2025 in this environment. But, as I mentioned, man, he’s in a stable environment. Um Shane does an awesome job with the offensive schematics. He’s got a stable um receiving group, guys that have been together for a number of years. Um he’s got a veteran offensive line and running back uh who are on top of their game. And so um when you put all of those things together, man, um it’s not surprising that he and they are doing well. Um on the other side of the ball, um we’re familiar with these guys from a personnel standpoint because we’ve played them um quite a bit here recently. U but it also is is some new schematics uh new to them uh but not necessarily new to us. We’ve competed against Lou over the years from his years in Cincinnati as a defensive coordinator. Um I see some things that that are certainly Lou. Um but he’s certainly adaptable in terms of highlighting the talents of the men that he works with. Um it starts inside and up front with their defense. Uh Buckner and and Stewart are are Grizzly veteran players, man, who are really good at what they do. Um they control the line of scrimmage. Uh Stewart’s really tough against the run. Uh Buckner obviously is a dynamic pass rusher on the interior. They do some things to create matchups for him uh on guards, on centers. Um the schematic um variations that you see particularly in onedimensional passing moments really highlights uh their talents. Um they got a nice edge group um that runs deep. Uh they play a lot of people. Uh they’re multiple. Um it helps them on third down. Man, they getting a bunch of structures on third down. You can see nickel 42. Uh nickel 51, dime 32, dime 41. Uh Lou does a nice job of keeping you off balance by mixing up a variety of personnel groups, particularly in one-dimensional passing moments. At the linebacker level, man, got a lot of respect for Franklin. Um he’s their defensive quarterback. I just appreciate a guy who’s grown and developed within a system or or a location. um in playing them over the years, man. At at the early stages of his career, he was a core teamer and then he became like a rundown defender and then a support defender to Shaq Leonard. Um and then he became the defensive quarterback and it’s just been a nice fluid progression. Um he’s a volume tackler. Um he has been for a number of years. He gets to the ball all over the field. He’s a he’s a very good blitzer. uh Lou is using him in a very similar way that he used uh Logan Wilson from his time in Cincinnati. You can see some parallels in terms of preparing for these guys. Um they use Kenny at the nickel spot in a very similar way that they use Mike Hilton, for example, at the nickel spot in Cincinnati. Um, again, it doesn’t make um operating any easier, but it’s certainly um some nice things to draw from from a familiarity standpoint um so that we can get better equipped um or or get a better understanding of some of the things that they’re doing uh so that we can, you know, counteract that. But, um they’re a great group. Um they’re getting a bunch of turnovers, but they’ve been up on some people. people have been onedimensional and usually bad turns the worst and and they’ve benefited from that. They’ve done a nice job of preserving and protecting the ball. I think their point differential on the season is I don’t know plus 150 and I think it’s indicative of some of those things that we’ve been discussing. Um they’re a really good really good group. They’re rolling. They got really good momentum. Uh it’s an awesome challenge for us. Um, I’m excited about the prep process uh that leads to performance and um so we got a big week ahead of us, man. Uh but it’s always nice uh to perform in aure and we’re excited about that. I’ll pause it and open up for questions. Mike Kim said after the game that he didn’t think that the the team the players handle adversity very well and he said if they start feeling sorry for themselves it’s going to avalanche and he said that it was a clear case of that. You agree with that? Do you see that? I I certainly agree with that. Um, as I mentioned, I don’t think I like how we responded um to the explosion plays, field flipping plays, drive producing conversion third downs that happened in the third quarter. Um, I didn’t think our offense responded very well to the nine call on the first third down um of the half. And, you know, you don’t always have control over what happens to your endgame. Uh, rest assured, some things are going to happen. There’s eb and flow over the course of 60 minutes. Um but in that instance as a collective uh we feel like we didn’t respond in any appropriate or the desired way. We didn’t smile in the face of it. We didn’t u produce the type of plays that counteract those things and and and get the balance back in our favor. And so we’re certainly being critical of ourselves and and we’re utilizing that as fuel as we prepare for our next opportunity. So how do you fix that? Is it self guys looking in the mirror? How do you how do you fix that? The first component of fixing it is is acknowledging it. Um you really don’t get an opportunity to fix it until you face those circumstances again. And so we spent some time acknowledging it. Uh we’re going to get back to work. Uh we certainly uh believe that that we work in the right spirit. We do the right things environmentally. Um we’re going to get back to work, man, and and wait for our opportunity to rectify it. You can spend a lot of time talking about your ills. Um but the true fixes come in stadiums. And so that’s why sometimes I’m somewhat hesitant to respond to the how do you fix it question. Uh there’s certainly procedurally things that you go about doing that fixes it, but the fix happens in stadium and the rest of it is just talk. Mike, you’ve got a pretty mature group, especially on defense. Should they at this point be able to handle adversity better than they did on Sunday? You know, sure. Um our kids should do what we tell them to do, but they often don’t. Um you know, we all fall short of perfection, man. Uh that’s why we’re always working as individuals and as a collective whether it’s football or life. Just just one clarification injury-wise on on Elliot, you said hyperextension. Is that actually a positive thing as opposed to what you thought um you you saw on Sunday night? I I didn’t have any preconceived notions. And so um I just always I just have learned over the years to to to wait on on clarity from the medical experts. And so I I don’t know that I had a perception Is this week to week a fair clarif fair standard to describe him? It is. Is he a candidate for injured? We haven’t discussed that at all uh yet, but you can characterize him as out for this week. Certainly. And when you look at the way that Andy’s offense runs with Tyler War and and those big tight ends. I mean, how what do you miss when you don’t have him on the field for that? He’s a significant component of what we do. Um particularly relative to some of the things that Indie does well. um he is a central figure in our secondary in terms of run defense for example. Um he covers tight ends oftent times in passing circumstances and so certainly um we have some adapting to do um in terms of how we divide the labor up uh this week. Um but that’s always the case when you lose someone particularly someone significant. It’s not a oneperson job. It’s a multi-person job and and that’s the spirit in which we’re planning as we sit here today. Um there’ll be several people given an opportunity um to to meet the demands of of what he does for us. Mike, what have you learned about playing sh against Shane Stiken over the years, not just him coaching in Indianapolis, but also like you faced him in 2022 when he was OC? I I think the run game balance um the use of quarterback mobility. um the run game balance, the use of quarterback mobility, um the corresponding play passes and misdirection passes, his ability to to run the ball and pass the ball out of various offensive personnel groups and formation structures. Uh his gun running game is really impressive. His quarterback up under passing game is really impressive. Um he’s got a well balanced and diverse attack and um he’s got a specialized divisional labor. You see it uh being played out in some of the guys that we mentioned. um Pierce being a down the field threat, um Pitman being a chain mover, etc. Um but that’s usually the the case when you’re talking about uh good offenses, man. There’s well- definfined divisional labor. Uh there’s versatility. Uh there are multiple uh personnel groups and so forth, and all of that kind of reflects Shane and his group. Mike, you’ve said that you don’t necessarily want to fundamentally change the scheme in some of these instances, specifically third down, but do you look at taking over sole play calling for defense or making adjustments? No, that’s not on the table as we sit here today. We just got to keep doing what we’re doing and do it better. There were some bold statements made early on before the season started about what type of defense this could be. obviously didn’t play out how you envisioned it, but what do you track that maybe disconnect up to from the early evaluation to what we’re seeing play out? We make no excuses about how or why we fall short. Our job is to perform and perform at a high level and we haven’t done that and so I’m excited about getting back to it. Um, seven games or whatever doesn’t make a season. We certainly got more in front of us and uh more opportunities to write our story whether it’s individuals, whether it’s a component of our team or whether it’s our team in general. I think that’s our general mindset. Mike Kim and a few others talk about not enough fight. Is that the same as handling adversity or is that a separate issue? I think it’s all being described in a in in a variety of ways. Um I didn’t see or hear his words and so I’m not going to speculate on what he meant. Um, but Cam and I are usually aligned in terms of how we see things relative to this collective and what we need to do uh to push forward. So, did you did you see a lack of fight when you watched the tape? No, I don’t necessarily say a lack of fight in terms of effort. Um, I’m talking about fight in terms of playmaking, you know. Um, you don’t get credit for for trying hard. Uh, we’re not in the tryh hard business. Our fight is about production and producing. and we certainly didn’t produce enough plays uh over the last 30 minutes of the game particularly in any of the phases to secure victory. You said to Cincinnati that you failure to stop the run was a component of not getting them into disadvantages down distance. Green you largely stopped the run against Green Bay, but they were still able to get there with short passing. Is that a similar problem that needs to be addressed? No, I thought I thought the run game wasn’t wasn’t an issue um versus Green Bay. Certainly tackling and tackling in the passing game was um Tucker was a major component of that. Uh we didn’t do a good enough job getting him on the ground in particular. I think he had 100 yards of run after catch himself. Last two weeks quarterbacks have gotten the balls out really quick against your defense. How do you kind of counteract that and get more production from your pass rush? I think that’s been our life for a number of years. I think anytime you got dynamic rushers, I think that’s the first way that you work to minimize them. Uh, I think that’s everyone’s agenda to be quite honest with you when they play us. Uh, to run the ball in an effort to stay on schedule, to minimize one-dimensional long yardage circumstances, um, and to get the ball out quickly. And so from that standpoint, it’s it’s nothing new. Um, it requires no quote unquote adjustments. Certainly, we can coach and play better. Mike, when you guys install rules on like, you know, for the defense to respond to different things as as the pre- snap plays out and you’re seeing this mistake that continue to happen, how do you guys course correct on that when it’s like, hey, we’ve installed this, you know what it is and it’s still being a problem. I think you’re always putting eight pounds in a 5B bag. I just think that’s the nature of what we do as coaches. Um, there’s never completeness of work. You never can say, “Oh, we got that. Now you got it until the next time something comes up. Um, and that’s not only defensively, but that’s in all three phases of the game. Uh, you’re continually tooling and retooling what it is that you do, making sure that it remains sharp, and when it doesn’t, um, finding the appropriate fixes or alterations in an effort to keep concepts, people or units going. Sort of that point. Then, Mike, what did you determine? What did you discover about where you guys are in the high red zone? kind of to your opening comments about some of the drives that stalled out. Aaron mentioned that as well in his post game. Yeah. Um sometimes it’s it’s just about playing clean. You know, um you get a penalty and it puts you behind the chains or um you have an ineffective first down play for a variety of reasons and it puts you in second and long. Um that’s kind of been our issues. Again, I don’t know that it requires anything dramatic in terms of a altering of personality relative to plans or or scheme. Uh we certainly could put them in a better uh circumstance to minimize negativity, to minimize some of the penalties that have occurred and and and certainly we can put them in better position to to perform and they certainly can perform better. Um it is certainly a component of the game that is significant for us. Uh something that we value. We’ve largely been really good as an offensive unit um in the red area, but we certainly were not um particularly in the high red Sunday night. Mike, how do you evaluate the job that Terrell Austin’s done to this point? You know, I’ I’ve known Terrell a long time. He’s very capable. Uh he’s very thorough. Um I largely been pleased with his work. Um but certainly he and I are not pleased with where we are right now from a defensive unit perspective. And so we’re just going to keep working. Mike, I still see communication issues in the secondary or is it just guys not not finishing plays? Um, you know, in some instances it’s it’s communication, but communication is always strained in the secondary. U particularly when you face with pre-nap shifts and motions and so um I’m not going to act like that’s some earthshattering statement. Um, as I mentioned when we were talking about tooling and retooling, that’s a component of coaching that you’ll always be urgent regarding. um pre-nap communication because week in and week out um the adjustments change, the shifts in motions change based on offensive units, based on the talent within those offensive units, how you choose to deploy your people based on those things. And so are there alterations to communication and adjustments every week and so there’s always urgency there. We certainly can be better there and we will. You have Eckles in over Slay late in the game. What went into that decision? Um we were just playing. We were rolling guys. Uh Eckles has been good for us and um is deserving to play and we played him some. Mike, you guys rank last in the league in total defense, but you also haven’t had a takeaway since the Dublin game. What which is a bigger red flag to you in terms of the way your defense is trending? Um you pick, you know, I just think that, you know, they both are significant um in terms of playing the type of defense that we desire. How would you characterize the play of Slade? He he only played about 50% of the stats last game. You know, um he’s been solid at times certainly. Um he’s left a few plays out there, but I think that’s not only reflective of him, but reflective of the collective. Um you can say the same thing about us as coaches. Uh starting first and foremost with myself. Mike, it looks like you guys only had 10 guys on the field on that two-point attempt. How does that happen? And who’s maybe in charge of making sure you got 11 out there? Um Eckles was in for Slay. Um Eckles thought that they were going for one. I think he came off the field because he’s not on field goal block and we weren’t able to get the transitional component of that. Um, and that happens from time to time uh when you’re rolling a lot of people. You never like it. Um, but the reality is the more people you play, the more complex rotations are, particularly when rotations get abnormal. When you look at the the lack of turnovers, is is it more are teams maybe just being more careful with the ball or are you guys simply just missing opportunities? I would imagine teams are working to be careful with the ball. I mean, I know we work to be careful with the ball. Um, sometimes it’s just not taking advantage of opportunities. I know we we probably dropped three or four balls against Cleveland, for example. Um, and and there’s a price to pay when you when you miss opportunities. Um, and so it’s not only about producing opportunities, um, but it’s about taking advantage of them. Um, and we hadn’t done that. Um there have been some balls on the ground that we weren’t able to recover, for example. And so, uh we’re just going to keep working, man. We we feel really good about our values regarding our turnover culture, the things that we we tangibly do, uh the physical labor that we do week in and week out on a routine basis. Not in a reactionary way relative to the fact that we’re not getting turnovers right now. No, it’s just a component of our everyday business. Uh it has and will continue to be because we value that component of play. Um, we’re not getting the fruit of that labor. Um, but we we’re we’re committed to continuing to work. Mike, when you guys in the past two games, you guys, the quarterbacks have basically averaged getting the ball out before 3 seconds because of their quick reads. What do you guys have to do to take away primary reads more consistently? And, you know, how how do you kind of correct what you guys have been doing against that? You know, um, there’s a lot of answers to that to be honest with you. None of it earthshattering or interesting. You change up schematics, you play man. um you play bogus zones, all of which we do. Um we just haven’t been doing it well enough to minimize what you what you discussed and so we’re going to keep working. Does either the recent play of the secondary or the injury to Elliot make you more likely to pursue a trade for some secondary help? I think we’re always open uh for business, particularly as we get close to the trade deadline. Uh we’re always buyers. Um we’re always trying to position oursel uh to be the best that we can be this year. Um, but that not only applies to the secondary that you asked about. I’m c I’m sure that applies to to all three phases of the game. Mike, you guys saw Jones basically like a year ago. Does he How does he look different on tape than he did when he was in New York? Um, he’s at the sticks of a really good offense. Um, they’re running the ball. They’re taking care of it. Um, he’s got some some eligibles that have been together. Um he just looks really comfortable in a structured system and uh it’s going really well for him. Mike, just uh one leaguewide thing here as far as about the halfway point. How are you finding the implementation and the communication to the coaches of the expedited review process? It has been a non-issue. There’s reports of you guys worked out about his scandal yesterday and reports that you’re going to sign him. Can you speak to that? You’re going to add We’re also working out uh Von Bell and Eddie Jackson today. It’s just a normal uh procedure for us on Monday and Tuesday like it is for the other 31 teams. We’re continually evaluating what’s out there and how we could potentially be better. Um if we sign him, you’ll hear about it. Mike, how’s uh Spencer grown as an extra offensive lineman if he has to fill in for Isaac? We have no reservations about his ability to perform and perform at a starter level. He’s done it in the past. That’s why we work to to be inclusive regarding his participation. He’s done some awesome things um at a at a offensive lineman reporting is eligible. Um and so I’m excited for him if if if Isaac is unavailable and he gets an opportunity. All right. Great. Thanks. All right. That said, coach Mike Tomlin getting set for the Indianapolis Colts. I’m joined right now by Missy Matthews. and me see the injuries are starting to pile up, specifically the one to Deshawn Elliott. Hyperextended knee was the official uh word, but that means he’s not going to be around for a few weeks at least. Yeah, I think you know, coach said they’re going to call it week by week, but officially ruling him out. Um as well as Daniel Quali, who’s dealing with an ACL. The good news, however, is that Isaac Seumalu, who injured his pec in the game against uh the Packers on Sunday night, he will be questionable. So, we’ll have to kind of see what happens there. Obviously Spencer Anderson who were so used to being Mr. Eligible filled in for him uh mainly in the second half and then Scotty Miller who missed the game due to a finger injury. It will dep depend on what happens during practice this week for him. Spencer Anderson continues to evolve. He’s now a pass catcher too. He can do it all. We have more to talk about when we come back. We’re going to take a break. Mike Tomlin talked about the injuries, talked about the challenge that is a Colts and also talked about what has to happen to change what we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks. We’ll delve into that and more as we continue right here on KDK Plus and Steeler Digital Platforms. Don’t go away. [Music] Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop the Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the terrible towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. Like change in the second half offensively? Not a whole lot. I just feel like we had some discipline issues and some penalties that were unnecessary and then you’re not going to win a lot of games when we’re so bad on third down. Boss bailed us out with some four incredible kicks, but you play good teams. You need to score touchdowns and we just stalled out in the high red zone. What can you say about Jordan Love and just how far he’s come over the years and also just how he played out tonight? Yeah, I thought I thought Jay Love played great and uh he was super efficient. you know, he didn’t get sacked, moved around really well, made some plays outside the pocket. Thought he played outstanding. Aaron, did not finishing those drives, is that a carryover for the offense, you know, especially heading into the second half when you’re not able to finish in the first half? Well, it felt good. It was 16-7. And you know, we had a nice drive there to end the first half and then, you know, just didn’t decide the game, but the one play where I don’t know if it seemed like the guy was off sides on third and eight and didn’t come up with a catch, they didn’t make a penalty call and then we punt it and they hit a kind of wild play to 85 to kind of get back in the game. That was like a big momentum turn in the game. Aaron, what does an offense have to do when you get behind the sticks to be able to overcome that? Like you were talking about those third downs in the high ran zone. Yeah, we had too many penalties, too many uh negative yardage plays and then, you know, we just I wasn’t accurate enough on third down and we weren’t creating enough space, but we’ll look at the film and, you know, we’ll get better and we got a good team coming in next week. [Music] Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about today. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ. This defense is swarming. It is kicked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. [Music] He’s a significant component of what we do. Um particularly relative to some of the things that Indie does well. Um he is a central figure in our secondary in terms of run defense for example. um he covers tight ends oftentimes in passing circumstances and so certainly um we have some adapting to do um in terms of how we divide the labor up uh this week. Um but that’s always the case when you lose someone particularly someone significant. It’s not a oneperson job. It’s a multi-person job and and that’s the spirit in which we’re planning as we sit here today. That’s Mike Tomlin talking about the loss of Deshun Elliott. It happened on that play uh which we referenced earlier with Tucker Craft. It was almost like a a lame duck throw by Love. I give him credit for getting the ball there, but it everybody was out of sorts there and he went up and made the catch and then he got all those additional yards and at the tail end of it, it was Elliot who paid the price when his knee got compromised. Now he has a hyperextended knee. But u yeah, his presence there is important especially since you know there is no Ma Fitzpatrick to come in and take care of that kind of stuff anymore. So, I guess uh they’re gonna have to figure out a different way and maybe it’s Jaylen Ramsay moving back into that safety spot a little bit more than we’ve seen. Yeah, it’s going to take more than just one guy. I don’t think you want to just put Jaylen Ramsay, you know, in Deshawn’s spot because they like to move him around so much. But, uh Deshawn was definitely a hub of communication as well in terms of helping get people set. Uh other than just Patrick Queen who’s getting the defensive calls in from Terrell Austin. Uh Deshawn is, you know, he’s the steady Eddie. He knows this defense inside and out. Usually knows what to do. Makes good plays. So, it is definitely a huge loss for the Steelers defense as you saw it continue to go poorly in the second half of that game against the Packers. And now knowing that he’s weak toeek with a hyperextended knee, you don’t want him to come back too soon. He already missed some time in the beginning of the season, but he’s definitely a guy that you want to be playing on your team. Uh especially when your defense is is trying to regroup here, it feels like after these two games. Yeah, back-to-back games, combined yardage of 704, six touchdowns, no interceptions. uh the Steeler defense has really got it get tighter and and you know Missy last week they tried to get to Love Blitzing more but they still didn’t get to him and if you don’t get to him blitzing then you got some problems in the secondary cuz he on Sunday night has been terrific now he’s 5-0 on Sunday night and he has 15 touchdowns and no interceptions and he was at his best I thought in this game. Yeah, it, you know, it was Mentor against mentee and even Aaron Rogers after a disappointing loss. Uh, you know, giving the Flowers to Jordan Love and his performance and what he was able to do. But it was, you know, the Steelers were able, I think, you know, the Green Bay Packers only had 17, 18, 19 rushing yards in the first half. Uh, completely changed in the second half in terms of, hey, you guys are going to stop the run. I’m going to go after this tight end. And they kept connecting and things were working. and even Josh Jacobs was getting uh you know in in her um into the passing game as well as the run game. So it it was just a very um felt wonky performance where it felt like nothing was going right. Um and there unfortunately you know you see Deshawn Elliott doing his best there and immediately grabbing his knee. Yeah. And certainly uh I’m sure the Steelers are going to have to expect a lot of what they have seen in the past couple of weeks to increase against Indianapolis which is one of the better offensive teams. Uh using the tight end that’s been a problem we saw with Tucker Craft and now this week they come in with a Penn Stater Tyler Warren who can do so many different things. Uh and I think he’s in a great system because number one he has got a run game as Mike Tomlin talked about. Anytime you have a guy like Jonathan Taylor rushing the way he’s rushing he’s going to end up with over 2,000 scrimmage yards. He already has 14 touchdowns himself and we’re not even halfway through this season, but the focus has to been on him. And so now all these other guys like Warren, like Pitman, like Pierce, all of them uh are really difficult when you put them all together and nobody’s really been able to stop them as evidenced by that 166 point differential. Oh, absolutely. And you know, you talk about Jonathan Taylor and it feels like every week we say this or coach Tomlin says it, but the competition gets harder and harder. Uh you know, you went from Chase Brown where they weren’t running a lot. We saw what happened. Josh Jacobs is somebody the Steelers have faced when he was with the Raiders. But this week it this is a home run hitter. A guy that um as coach had said is an all day investment in trying to stop him and not let him wreck the game. And you know it it helps when you can run the ball, get time off the clock. They’re usually cashing in. They don’t punt often. Um this is definitely an offense that is going to be a tall task for the Steelers defense. And one of the things they have to really clamp down on is missed tackles. They had like 11 in that game against um Green Bay. And if you watch this guy run, you know the missed tackles are going to be part. He has had a lot of extra yards after contact and so that’s going to be a big key. Steelers have certainly got to get better in that department. When we come back, we’ll continue to talk about the Colts and what the Steelers have to do. They’re still four and three on top of the division, but the Ravens have entered the equation again after a one and five start. They got a win the other night and they play on Thursday night coming up. So that’s a big game against Miami. Things get a lot more interesting as time goes on. The plot thickens in the NFL as the weeks go on. We’ll talk more about that and more as we continue right here on this Tomlin Tuesday. [Music] [Music] Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about to them. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ. His defense is swarming. It is kicked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. What What do you think are some of the big issues that you guys are having in defending uh defending the pass? Whether it be man stuff, stuff over the middle. I mean, Tucker Craft was just for you was like repeating over and over again. What What What are some of the issues that you’re seeing? I think it just comes down to understanding situations. Um, doing your job, doing it at a high level. Um, just playing with a sense of urgency. I think when you understand the situations, um, understand the formation at the end is is tails, is keys. And, um, I think that’s the part that we got to be better at. Um, I think when it’s manto man, you just got to it’s man to man. like you got to eat. Like I think we got the best guys to cover in the world. I think we just got to go out there and do it. It’s just um we just got to lock in on the details, do what we do um and just be better. How do you fix a an issue with sense of urgency? How do you get guys to play with more of that? I think you just got to do it at practice. We do it at practice. Um I think when you get to the game and something go left, um you kind of get a little timid or whatever you whatever you want to call it from that. I think you just got to hone in, lock in, and just be ready for the next play and the next play and the next play. Just keep going. Like it’s a Warriors game. Like things ain’t going to always be perfect. We just got to battle back. Are you seeing guys maybe getting frustrated and then compounding problems on defense? I think Yeah, I think I think sometimes when you get beat, you kind of get frustrated. Um especially like maybe you knew the situation or maybe you just got beat manto man. whatever it is. I think um when it comes to that, I think you kind of get frustrated as a human, you know, and as a player cuz you want to be great, you’re competitive. I think every single guy on our defense is competitive and not want to lose a rep. Um so, I think that’s when we just got to hone in on the details and just be better. Just be honed in. Just have a sense of urgency and be physical, be be fast, be aggressive. Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop the Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the Terrible Towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. [Music] As I mentioned, I don’t think I like how we responded um to the explosion plays, field flipping plays, drive producing conversion third downs that happened in the third quarter. Um I didn’t think our offense responded very well to the nine call on the first third down um of the half. And you know, you don’t always have control over what happens to your endgame. uh rest assured some things are going to happen. There’s eb and flow over the course of 60 minutes. Um but in that instance as a collective uh we feel like we didn’t respond in any appropriate or the desired way. We didn’t smile in the face of it. That’s Mike Tomlin talking about facing some of this adversity. Uh reacting to Cam Hayward’s comment that the team didn’t have enough fight. He elaborated on what fight means in his view which is you know handling those situations better than they did. And you might remember Missy, at the beginning of the season, we were talking about the Steelers being a very good team when it came to discipline. They had the fewest amount of penalties for a long time and they also weren’t taking these undisiplined calls or we saw in this game. So, I don’t know if it’s frustration level, whatever the case may be, that makes everything worse when you start doing that on the field. Yeah, you could definitely tell that was making Cam and some other guys not so happy. I think even, you know, when Nick Herbig had his on special teams, there were a few snaps and series that he did not play on defense. uh following that even with DK Metaf, you know, things that I think even Aaron Rogers echoed, but it felt like it started to begin in Cincinnati with the penalties trickled into this game, which you would have hoped would have been cleaned up. Um so definitely something that you, you know, those team leaders are not happy about. Cam Hayward, um you know, always one of those guys that the media wants to hear from following a game. Sometimes he does it right away. This was a he’s going to sit there, he’s going to take a shower, then he’s going to come out. I’m sure it was him trying to make sure that he wasn’t emotionally speaking, even though it it was pretty um you know, out of character for Cam, not in a bad way, but just it wasn’t all keeping it positive moving forward. It was, you know, hey, we’re we’re I’m going to call some people out. We’re going to do better. Well, they have to do better because right now they in their past defense game, they’re ranked dead last in the NFL. didn’t think I’d be saying that given, you know, the talent they had over there. But here they are after back-to-back games where they’ve been pretty much u, you know, dissected in the middle of the field especially. So now you have a team that knows this and I would expect that coming into this game they’re going to try to exploit what they’ve seen on tape. It is a copycat league. We talk about it all the time. I don’t know the approach you have. Obviously you got to start with Taylor. Uh, and they did a good job with Jacobs in the first half. They took him kind of out of the game and then the Steelers did not run the ball as much in the second half and they started to run the ball. But I think that’s it starts there. But, you know, this is a tall assignment given the fact that they’ve been passing the ball tremendous on everyone so far in this year, right? And I, you know, maybe this is the best medicine for the Steelers knowing that this is not, you know, a cakewalk. Uh, not that any game in the NFL is clearly anything can happen in any day on any day. Um, but with what Jonathan Taylor has been doing, you know, you talk about offensive player of the year. I mean, when you talk about MVP, uh, you never know how that’s going to shake out for him. But I just think that, you know, the Steelers have to stop the run. They have to commit to doing that. That is going to go back to people staying in their gaps, the discipline, not just talking pen not getting penalties, but doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Um, and I think, you know, for the offensive side of the ball, we’ve talked a lot about defense. It’s also a matter of not settling for the field goals and getting the touchdowns. It felt like drives were just stalling uh all night against the Packers on Saturday. Yeah. And when you look back, it was 16-7 at halftime. could have been more. They chose to kick field goals on those situations again down a distance helped uh that decision to be made, but there was a fourth and two call that I thought they may roll the dice and go for it just because you knew when you take a team like this, the Packers or any of these highscoring teams, you’re going to need more than just field goals. When you start settling for field goals, then it’s a problem. Yeah, I think everybody thought it would be more of a high-scoring game uh out of, you know, right out the gates, but it was, as you said, just a nine-point lead at halftime, but a lot of Chris Boswell field goals. Not that you don’t appreciate what Bos does cuz he gets the points on the board. It feels like everything’s automatic for him. Um but in terms of the offense, you want to see them getting those touchdowns. I’m not asking for four touchdowns to four different tight ends every week or something crazy. It was just something that um wasn’t going well for them. And it’s not good when both sides of the ball are not able to get into a rhythm and do something consistently. Boswell has been terrific. We’re watching these and over his career, it’s stunning. He’s hit 85% of his field goals 50 and beyond. Most players 85% is good enough for any field goal, let alone 50 and beyond. And quite frankly, uh he had a block earlier and that one with when the uh the sod gave way and there was a divot. Uh those are the only two misses he’s had. He could have been perfect on the season. Yeah. And again, it’s why you trust him uh to go out there and to make those kicks. He is. It’s just impressive to watch what he does on the sideline to get ready when he knows it could be his number called to go out there. Uh just the mechanics he goes through the routine and doesn’t look like he’s breaking a sweat whatsoever. Um but the Steelers are lucky to have him, but again also need to, you know, let him kick some extra points and just go for those touch. Even though he likes kicking, he’d love the fact that he wouldn’t be called upon and they score 35 in a game without any field goals. That’s what the goal is. We’ll see what happens on Sunday afternoon when the Colts come to town. It’s a big game for both teams, especially the Steelers who are now 4 and3. Uh they’d love to get to 5 and three and put more pressure on the rest of the teams in that AFC North. We’ll talk more about this matchup when we come back right here on KDK Plus and Steeler digital platforms. [Music] Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop this dealers pro shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the terrible towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. guys been out of position, including myself, uh not making the plays that supposed to that we supposed to be making, but that was pretty much it. Like I said earlier in the week, we just got to eliminate the, you know, the small uh communication issues that we’ve been having. Um that was pretty much it. What’s leading to those those plays where you guys are just out of position when again seemed like you guys had the the plan early with the stop that you had? Sorry. Um I mean, it’s just, you know, we start fast. We I I was saying uh going into the second half that we just got to finish strong. Like that’s the the tendency. It seemed like we always start real fast and then when it go to the second half, we struggle a little bit. Um and that’s what it looked like today. Juan, how how much of this is just confidence? Even even great athletes can have a lapse in confidence collectively, too. I don’t I don’t think it’s confidence at all if I’m being honest. I I don’t um I don’t think anybody’s going out there just like expecting to be beat or nervous or something like that. Um, literally I just feel like, you know, we just got to work on the things like finding the ball when they throw it, uh, making the tackles that we supposed to make. Um, things simple as that. Do you feel like these are fixable things that you’re seeing? Definitely. I mean, just make the tackle literally like we can do certain drills in practice that will allow us to make those tackles, stay in that gaps, uh, when the ball’s in the air, track it, things like that. It’s easy to fix. Dr. Desan going forward is enough secondary you guys can piece together assuming he’s not. He’s out, huh? Assuming he’s out. The secondary you guys have the bodies to win. I mean, we got guys everywhere. I mean, you got me, you got Pep. Um, we got a lot of guys that can step in and help with that role. You know, Deshawn was one of our leaders, you know. Um, he did a lot for our defense. Um, I don’t I’m not really sure what his injury is. Hopefully, he’s back. Um, but I I think we got the guys that can step in and make those plays. [Music] Our fans are here. giving something to cheer about to them. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ. This defense is swarming. It is kicked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at AAR State. Here we go. We’ve spent an awful lot of time talking about the Indie Colt offense, but their defense gets overlooked. It’s just as effective. Yeah. And their coordinator, uh, someone Steelers fans are very familiar with coming from Cincinnati and just what they’ve been able to do. Um it, you know, it is a definite uh complimentary balance between their offense and defense. Um the offense is the splashy, explosive, uh pretty side, but in terms of their defense, they’re still doing some really great things. So, you know, for a Steelers offense, as we just talked about in the last segment, settling for field goals is not going to work, especially against this team who seems like uh you know, getting touchdowns is not difficult, right? They’re going to have a lot to work on this week as they get set for the seven and one Colts team. When we come back, some final thoughts as the Steelers get set for Indianapolis at 4-3, trying to get to 5 and three. We’ll discuss that when we return. [Music] Our fans are here. something to cheer about to them. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ. This defense is swarming. It is kicked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at AAR State. Here we go. Didn’t execute in the second half. you know, we had a great great first half. Um came out having seven points and then um we just didn’t execute well in the second half. You know, it’s embarrassing to come out like that, play the way we did. So, um just to put two performances like this back to back, it’s just it’s embarrassing. It’s not the standard, so we got to fix it ASAP. What was Mike’s message to you guys in the locker after the game? Just didn’t get the job done tonight, but um we got to stay together. Um we can’t can’t hang our heads on this, you know, we can’t let these two these backto-back losses uh fester. Um, we got to, you know, watch the film. Uh, we got to own it, but end of the day, you know, we we just got to we got to flush it because we got a good team coming in here next week. So, um, we just got to play better, a lot better and fast. What What changed about the third down defense? You guys were shutting it down early, 0 for four for them on the other side early and then it seemed like they popped a few plays and it just kind of broke over. I mean, they were making some good plays, but, you know, we just didn’t execute like we should have. Um, and I think, you know, it’s just kind of been the trend for us the past couple weeks. And we just got to get back to playing steel football, steel defense. And like I said, it’s just unacceptable the way we’ve been playing the past couple weeks. So, we got to figure out what’s wrong and um, you know, get get back in the film room. Um, analyze it because, like I said, we got a good team coming in next week, so we got to get better fast. All week about stopping the run, and you guys did that. Um, but is this fixable now? What happened here tonight? Yeah, I mean, I think it it is fixable. Um, you know, like I said, we just got to look at the film, um, see what was wrong. Um, but end of the day, you know, it’s about execution. We didn’t do that well tonight. Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop the Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the Terrible towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. [Music] before we go and in case you missed it, some big time injuries affecting the Steelers right now, Missy. And the biggest one is Deshawn Elliot. Yeah, he’s dealing with a hyperextended knee. Coach Tomlin saying he’s going to be weak to weak, but ruled him out already for the game against the Colts. Daniel Aqual uh dealing with an ACL. He is also out. Isaac Seumalu who was hurt in the Packers game as well with a pec injury. He is questionable. And coach Tomlin did say that Von Bell and Eddie Jackson were in for workouts today probably due to the Deshawn Elliot uh injury. And Scotty Miller dealing with a broken finger. He did have it repaired. We’ll have to see what he does in practice. We’ll see what happens this week. It’s a big game for both teams, especially the Steelers who try to get back on track after losing two in a row. Steelers Colts. You’ll see it on KDK 1:00 on Sunday. Our pregame begins at 11:30 a.m. for Missy Matthews. I’m Bob Pompian. Thanks for joining us. We’ll do it again next Tuesday right here at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Have a good week. [Music]

Coach Tomlin addresses the media ahead of our Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

#INDvsPIT 11/2 at 1PM ET on CBS

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