The Mike Tomlin Show: Week 12 at Chicago Bears | Pittsburgh Steelers

The Mike Tomlin Show: Week 12 at Chicago Bears | Pittsburgh Steelers

When Cincinnati and Pittsburgh meet, it’s not just a game, it’s a grudge match for the Bengals. This game was pivotal for keeping their season alive. As the Steelers found out on October 16th with Joe Flack with the helm, completely different Bengals offense. Even though they’re 1 and2, they’re averaging almost 38 points per game in the three games with him pulling the trigger the last three games. It’s going to start with us. It’s going to end with us. We know who the Dog is. We know who going to get out the most, who going to push the hardest. Let’s go out there and whoop today. Give me a D line on three. 1 2 3. For the Steelers, they had something to prove after last week’s performance and look to maintain their division lead. Clear your memory. That’s going to be the first thing that you need to do. Clear your memory of last week. And the best way to clear that is to go take it out on the team in front of you. Right now, the Bengals hold that nugget, right? They have the W in their hands. You got to go snatch it from them. And the mentality that you have to go with is I need to punish. I need to pound. Let’s do it. Take care of the ball. The rest of it goes down like water. Dominate today, man. Be the best group on this entire field regardless of position. Be the best group out here. Let’s go. Moving with the ball’s moving. Look a little bit longer. Damp in there. Take care of the football. It’s round two of this storied AFC North rivalry where intensity, physicality, and animosity take over. Here we go. His fastest card and that’s a touchdown. That’s the way to work. Come on. He’s been sacked. The Steelers win the football game. Let’s go. Don’t get it. You know what it is. This one is in the history books. Here we go. Welcome to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. Hi everybody and welcome to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin show. I’m Missy Matthews. As the Steelers and Bengals squared off for round two, Pittsburgh not only had a chance to rebound from their previous game in LA, but also from the first time they faced Cincinnati. The Steelers defense held the Bengals to just one touchdown and they also scored two TDs of their own to help keep the Steelers at the top of the AFC North. For more, let’s welcome in Bob Pompiani who’s standing by with Coach Tomlin. Bob. All right, Missy, thanks very much. Steelers coming off a big win against the Cincinnati Bengals at AAR Stadium. Uh before we get to the Bears and talk about the next opponent, let’s talk about this game because you often talk about next man up and we saw evidence of that last week. Aaron Rogers goes out with an injury. Mason Rudolph is your next man up. And right off the bat, first drive was u a very good drive for him. Talk about what he means to your team in these situations. You know, Mason is a valued member of our group. Um I don’t think that anybody that’s been here any length of time is surprised by his ability to deliver under those circumstances. He’s done it for us time and time again over the years. Um he plays with a great deal of confidence. He does. Um it’s organic. It’s real. Um, and so, you know, we were happy for him and excited for him because we just know he relishes those opportunities. As far as Aaron goes, you know, he wanted to go back into the game, but there’s a lot of things going on. They trying to get the severity of the injury. Um, trying to make sure they have appropriate pitchers, trying to make sure they could stabilize him and keep him safe. We only had two drives in the second half of the game. So, it kind of minimized that discussion, but Mason’s a gamer. uh he’s always ready and we’re thankful that he’s a a component of our group. You said confident. What’s the biggest difference aside from that you had him right here, you draft him, now he’s back for the second tour. What have you seen different from him over the years? You know, I don’t know that, you know, his time spent in in Tennessee has changed him that all he wasn’t in Tennessee very long, but I certainly have seen an evolution in him. um comfortable in his shoes, comfortable in in the role of a backup quarterback and some of the challenges that come with it. Limited exposure during the course of a potential work week in terms of what you might uh be able to execute or have to execute while at the same time being urgent enough to be prepared. He he’s perfected that process and he displays that readiness uh with this play. All right, we have a segment called Angry Runs Now. We do it every week. We see it on NFL Network. Angry runs have become the norm. You saw a run with Darnell Washington this week, which has to be one of the best. You go back to Vance McDonald, the most iconic I still think is Bettis over Erlacer given what it meant, but can you just assess that runway? And when you’re watching him plow over people, uh just what’s going through your mind, you know, um it’s it’s starting to get pretty common place for us to be quite honest with you. He’s a spark plug for not only our offensive unit, but for our team with his style of play and some of the things that he’s uniquely able to do um at his size and stature. Um he had a similar play um in Indianapolis a year ago. Um we were kind of a quarter and a half into the game and and wouldn’t get the type of offensive traction that we desired. He caught a ball in the flat on their sideline and hurdled someone and then ran the next guy over and you know just one of these freakish plays. but you saw it on his Georgia tape as well. He is a unique animal certainly um a talented athlete. Um a guy that has fine motor skills and instincts that that are unusual for a guy his size. The other thing you often talk about third down conversions, how important they are both sides of the ball. In that first drive with Mason Rudolph, there were two of them. Uh third and 11, third and 17, and he was one of the guys who got the extra yard to move the chains. There’s no question. So, we dumped the ball down to him, absorbed very little risk in an effort to do so. Um, I think he made the first tackler, Gino Stone, miss and negotiated his way to the line to gain, but again, in one-on-one cir circumstances, uh, we’ve seen a lot of it. Um, whether it’s in stadium or in team development and training camp, he is a difficult guy to get on the ground. I think Gino made a business decision. He didn’t want to get in the way of that moving train. Don’t blame Gino, but Gino doesn’t work with us, so it’s easy for me to say that. Uh, also Kenneth Gainwell, uh, you know, big plays at big times. Uh, he’s comfortable in that role and you didn’t shy away from that, uh, you know, opportunity when he got in there. What’s he meant to you to compliment Warren? You know, he’s just been a good all-around football player. He has. He’s been an awesome compliment to Jaylen um, in the running game. He’s an asset to us in the passing game as well. Uh, he returns kicks for us. He covers kicks. I think he had a tackle on kickoff um, the other day as well. And I think it just speaks to his versatility. I like to describe him as a football player first and a running back second just because of his talent and his willingness to do any and everything that we ask. Getting back to the next man up uh situation on defense, you had two prime examples. I thought the game-changing play by Kyle Duggar and also James Pierre. Uh that speaks to your message with all these guys, doesn’t it? There’s no question. U but those guys are certainly deserving of the credit. Cal has been been spectacular in his preparation process and the work that he’s done uh to fit in and to keep this thing rolling and certainly James Pierre and a larger body of work. The general growth and development that he’s had as a player um since he’s been a member of this organization is equally as impressive. Total difference night and day with Jason Higgins first time around to this time. What was different? What did you guys do defensively? you know, we we had less speculation about about what their personality might be with, you know, with Flaco at at the sticks. As I mentioned the first time around, we had a very small sample size. We had one game and that game wasn’t a complete week’s work. And certainly, it creates challenges for them, but it also creates challenges for those that are competing against them and trying to forecast how they might play and the things that they might do. Um, as I said last week, we had a larger body of work to study. Um, there was less speculation there. We were able to make more definitive decisions regarding how to, you know, minimize some of those things and and I think more than anything. Uh, the tape was a reflection of that. All right, coach. Thanks very much. Coming up next, it’s a Chicago Bears. Tina is playing very well. They’re seven and three. The Steelers six and four. We’ll dive into the Bears and what they’ve done well coming up. Missy, back over to you. All right, thanks so much, Bob. 11 for the Bears. They’ve won six of their last seven games with five of those victories coming in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime. Consistency is one way to explain Captain Cam Hayward. And on Sunday against the Bengals, he played in his 221st regular season game, passing Mike Webster for the second most in team history. Ben Rothllessberger sits well ahead of Hayward with 249 games. The 84 lumber Mike Tomlin Show. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. Well, the Rooney and Halis families are synonymous with the NFL. They are two of the eight oldest franchises in the league. And on Sunday, they’ll go head-to-head as both teams try to stay at the top of their respective divisions. for much more in Chicago. Let’s send it back to Bob and coach, guys. All right, Missy, thanks very much. This is an interesting match up, a marquee matchup in week 12 the NFL season. It’s the Chicago Bears, Soldier Field. Uh let’s talk about their they have a new head coach, have a whole new um really cast of characters over there when you think about it. But Ben Johnson, you haven’t faced him in this capacity, but he was a pass game coordinator with the Lions way back when when you guys had a chance. What do you know about him? He’s known for creativity. what what does he do and what must you do to counter that? Interesting enough, the first game he called as a Lion was in Akashure against us. It was the first year their staff, they didn’t get off to the type of start that they wanted to. Um, we didn’t realize that after the game that that Dan Campbell had made him offensive coordinator and play caller after the game. Some of the things that we saw in game made sense to us. Um, and so we got a firsthand look at some of the things that he does that are a little bit unique really before everyone else did. Um, it’s really kind of common place now. Um, his willingness to run the football on possession downs um is a signature. Um, they’re second in the league in rushing because of their unique commitment. It gives them additional rushing totes. Um, it makes them difficult to scheme and prepare for, particularly at third and five or less. Um he’s he’s really into the gadgets um in the high red zone. They run a lot of reverses. That adds to their run game tally as well. Again, these things that that we’re seeing on Chicago tape, we’ve seen for a number of years now on Detroit Lion tape. And so, um he certainly has a mode of operation. It’s certainly a little bit different than most, um but it is a mode of operation. um he has a way of going about doing things and I’m excited about preparing our group with the knowledge that he is going to be calling the game this time around. Yeah. And it seems like he’s doing exactly what they did in Detroit in that they relied on Gibbs and Montgomery two backs. They have a two back system here with Swift and Manangi. Um similar approach that way. Do they feature the uh run game as much? Ve very similar. Um, you know, in terms of the schematics component of it, certainly Caleb Williams provides an e extra dimension with his mobility, his play extension, and his running and his running skills. Um, there’s no schematic component to that, but it certainly is a difference um, in terms of facing um, him in Chicago, him being Ben Johnson in Chicago and the things that he was able to do in Detroit. Williams has done a pretty good job protecting the football. four uh interceptions, I think 13 touchdowns, but that run element is also something we’ve seen a lot of. Uh what what’s the biggest your key on stopping him when he gets out of the pocket or keeping him in the pocket? You know, we we just got to work to first and foremost minimize the play extension component. We certainly can’t give him downhill escape lanes. Um he takes those and gobbles up yards and chunks. Um as you mentioned, he’s been really good with minimizing negativity on those play extensions. oftent times quarterback mobility and play extensions usually comes with some offensive negativity. Hadn’t been the case with him, but it really wasn’t the case with him a year ago either um in his rookie season. He I think he was very good in in terms of an interception total a year ago. And so it takes a full day’s work. We certainly have to put some schematics to it, but we also got to be able to play a lot of people. When your big guys are chasing a mobile quarterback around, you got to be able to call on your depth and an effort to get the type of results that you want. You also have a lot of eligibles that come into play. He spreads the ball around. They they have a lot of guys that put in play starting with DJ Moore and Adun. But it doesn’t matter who it is. He he goes through his progressions and he seems to find open guys. He certainly does and and and he’s got some new new weapons at his disposal. Luther, the young wide receiver I think they took in the second round from Missouri. um his role is increasing and you feel that um as they gotten into the meat of the season. And the same thing with Lovelin, their dynamic tight end from Michigan. Those are two young guys that maybe not be headliners yet uh but they’re very talented. They invested a lot of draft capital in them and you feel them coming on each and every week. Defensively, they look like a mirror image of your defense. They pride themselves in taking the ball away. Uh I think they’re number one in the NFL in doing that. So, they seem to be looking at the ball the way you guys want to take the ball away. Yeah, man. Da um Dennis Allen, their coordinator, he’s been at it a long time. He’s really solid. Um he’s got some veteran players as safety. I think Kevin has got five interceptions. He’s always gotten around the ball. He did it when he was a member of the Titans. Shoot, he did it at Middle Tennessee State prior to coming into the league. And so, we got to respect that component of it. Um they got a good rush up front. They got an offense that’s taking care of the ball and putting points on the board. And so it’s getting people into a risk-taking mode, some one-dimensional moments. They’re closing games out with big turnovers. Uh they’ve done an awesome job complimenting one another on both sides of the ball. All right, coach. Thanks very much. We appreciate that. When we come back, we have the keys to the game. It’s a big one. Steelers and Bears 1:00 KDKA will have it for you. Missy, back over to you. Okay, Bob, that sounds good. Well, the Steelers Bears matchup is one of two, including the Bucks and the Rams in week 12 to feature division leading teams. Well, only Chicago has more takeaways than Pittsburgh this season. In Bears, QB Caleb Williams likes to take care of the ball. Up next, Mel Hodgej demonstrates how he’s caused fits for other teams. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. Show off your black and gold knowledge with Immaculate Prediction, the Steelers predictive game that gives you a chance to win some great prizes. Here’s one of this week’s questions. Will TJ Watt have at least one sack against the Bears? Yes or no? Just head to the Steelers mobile app now to compete for this week’s first place prize, an autographed Watt jersey. Good luck. Well, speaking of Watt, he and the Steelers defense rank top three in the NFL for both sacks and takeaways. In week 12, they’ll be facing former first round pick quarterback Caleb Williams. Merryill Hajj has more in this week’s playbook about how to keep Williams in the pocket and some other things they need to look out for. Hi everyone, welcome into the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for the playbook presented by Microsoft Co-Pilot. All right, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, that’s that’s all time great matchup. I think just Bears and Steelers. I love it. Now, when you look at this particular matchup, I think their quarterback creates some problems. um he’s gotten better from the pocket, but his ability to get out of the pocket and escape is something you got to be very concerned about. And this is not an easy guy to deal with because he’s pretty quick and he’s got pretty good speed and he’s got great instincts from that perspective. So being disciplined is going to be the thing that you have to walk through in how you get after him. So on this very first play, this is what I’m talking about being disciplined. You can never get beyond your quarterback. So, as we snap the ball, you’re going to see how the outside defender who comes, he gets beyond the quarterback. Okay. Now, once that happens, you have just given him a running lane to escape. He has done this so much he will take that running lane because they’ve done a pretty good job on the back end. So, why not go get seven, eight yards if you’re going to give it to me? And this is an easy one, too, by the way. You give him this, he will take it and he will get down. So, how do you go about that? You can never get beyond the quarterback. Now, in this play, they do a good job of not getting beyond the quarterback, but they don’t finish. So, as we snap the ball, the defender at the top of the screen is going to do a really good job of initiating. Now, he’ll end up closing it. Now, see how he comes flat. Okay, now Caleb Williams cannot escape like he just did in the last one. He’s got to move laterally and then go vertically. Now, what happens here is you finish, you don’t finish the tackle. You know, when you get your hands on him, you got to finish because he’s just too loosey for defensive lineman. He can get outside the perimeter and make big runs. Now, as we continue to watch this game, there are some times where they do it really well. This is what you have to do to be more consistent with him. Uh when he gets to the top of the of his drop here, as we snap the ball, they do a good job of not getting beyond him. You can see the top defender now. He starts to close it down. When he closes it down, he doesn’t give him that quick escape route, which is most important. It takes a lot of work defensively to do it right. And you’re going to have all different ways you go about it. You got to give your defenders an opportunity to get angles to him. And if you come down and you close it down, he can’t escape vertically. He’s got to go laterally. And that’s really what you want to do is you continue to let it go is you keep him in the pocket and now defensive linemen are quick enough to handle him. This aspect of the Bears offense is the ones you can’t predict. You know, they’re pretty good at their running game and their passing game. They’ve gotten better over the season. It’s this one that is the most difficult because these are the hardest things to do. But if you can do it defensively, you scheme it right, you eliminate a big chunk of their offense. And be sure to check out all of Merryill’s playbooks on the team’s official YouTube page. Well, the Steelers head to the Windy City this weekend in hopes of reversing history. Just once the black and gold have pulled out a victory in Chicago. That lone win came in 1995. And overall, Pittsburgh is just 1 and2 in Chicago. For more on how they can change things up, let’s send it over to Bob and Coach for your keys to the game presented by your neighborhood Ford store. Bob. Hey Missy, thanks very much. When you look at Chicago, you see a lot of new people, especially on their offensive line. Coach, they went out and tried to give Caleb Williams protection there. U talk about that uh offensive line and what they’ve been able to do to make him a better quarterback this season. As you mentioned, they went out and and acquired some quality veteran players. Um the right guard is a is a savvy veteran man and knows what he’s doing. Um, the thing that I’ve been most improve impressed by is the improvement in Wright, their their right tackle. Uh, they drafted him a couple of years ago from the University of Tennessee. Man, he is a talented and dynamic guy. They pull their tackles quite a bit and some of their perimeter runs and so you see the talent and the pedigree of those men. Um, as we talked about earlier, um, a major component of keeping Caleb clean is being on schedule and and having a run game commitment that they have. Um, they’re always in manageable possession down plays. It doesn’t allow you to pin your ears back and tee off. I think they’re fourth in the league in terms of sacks given up. Uh, and it also speaks to the circumstances that they’re in as well as the people. It’s just do a good job of teeing up situations which allows them to manage them. You guys pride yourselves in takeaways. So do they. They’re one of the best in the business of doing it. You guys are right up there as well. Is it simply put whoever takes the ball away wins in this game? I like to refer to it as two trains on the track. You know, something’s going to happen. Uh you better believe it in Chicago on Sunday. Um I like the culture that we have here. Certainly, I respect what they’ve done. Um but usually these games come down to possession of the football, your ability to preserve it, uh your ability to get it, and uh so it’ll be an exciting game certainly. Coach, all the best to you. Appreciate your time here. That’s going to do it for our program today. Thanks for joining us. Again, the game tomorrow kicks off at 1:00. We begin at 11:30 a.m. with a bet MGM Steelers kickoff. That’s going to do it for head coach Mike Tomlin, Missy Matthews. I’m Bob Pompiani. We’ll see you tomorrow and have a great weekend.

On this week’s episode of The Mike Tomlin Show, Bob Pompeani and Coach Mike Tomlin talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers Week 12 matchup against the Chicago Bears and the keys to winning the game.

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