The Mike Tomlin Show: Week 14 at Baltimore Ravens | Pittsburgh Steelers

The Mike Tomlin Show: Week 14 at Baltimore Ravens | Pittsburgh Steelers

Here we go. 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. Come get it. You know what it is. This one is an answer. Here we go. Welcome to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. Hi everybody. Welcome to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. I’m Missy Matthews. Well, just when Joe Burrow and the Bengals put together a full plate performance against the Ravens on Thanksgiving, the Steelers had another lead at halftime vanish when the Bills came to town just a few days later. For much more on the six and six Steelers as they head into a big weekend, let’s send it over to Bob Pompienni who’s standing by with Coach Tomlin. Guys, hey Missy, thanks very much. Steelers getting ready for a big game in Baltimore. But first, head coach Mike Tomlin here talking about last week and uh it was one of those games where a lot of guys seem frustrated, demoralized. Uh you have many responsibilities as head coach. How do you get that to change? I know it’s Baltimore, so that should help in and of itself, but what else do you do? You know, I’m not going to take it for granted just because it’s Baltimore. Um I I think that that’s a component of leadership. um when things get a little bit unsteady um that you provide clarity and direction in terms of what needs to transpire um people’s roles in it and things of that nature. And so we’ve been really transparent this week with our messaging about those very things. Um certainly there are some things that were frustrating a week ago because the pattern component of it. Um but we played 30 good minutes of football. Um not ideal football. Certainly, we could have been up 14-3 um as opposed to seven to three. Um but it’s always the same things that are critical um determinance of the outcome of football games. Your ability to take the ball away, your ability to preserve and protect the football. We had 30 minutes of good in that area, taking it away and protecting it. Then in the second half, obviously, we turned it over twice and and it being the first two possessions um of the second half kind of put put that that smell in the air. And so, um we’re back to fundamentals. Um you know, when things aren’t going well as well as you would like, you don’t do more, you do less. Um you make sure everybody can play with emotion, and a component of playing with emotion is knowing what to do, having clean communication. And so usually those are more base things, things that you that you have more experience in as a collective. Um certainly we got some guys playing and playing significant roles that weren’t here or missed a major component of development. And so, you know, we proceed with that understanding as well. A guy like Kyle Duggar who’s playing a lot of ball for us, you know, you say fall back on some training camp things. Well, he spent training camp in New England. But everyone has those challenges this time of year. It’s a component of the game at this level. The attrition component. Um these are not college football teams with 110 people in the program. Um people come, people go, people get elevated. Um as attrition becomes a component of it. And so it’s been a lot to balance, man. But uh the competitor in me really enjoys it. The leader and organizer in me certainly enjoys it. Um, but it’s all about putting a product together um, where guys can can respond and bounce back with the motion and play with the type of energy that’s required when facing an opponent like Baltimore. You you talk a lot about staying on schedule, which obviously did not happen in that Bills game. It’s led to time and possession issues. How do you rectify that? Because you want to hold the ball. It’s the best defense against a good offense, but it hasn’t happened so far. For us, it’s about being in manageable third downs. uh when our running game is going and we’re in third and three or less or what have you, man, we’re one of the best teams in in the league, if not the best team in the league at at um third and short conversions. Um and so that’s a recipe for us, but we can’t run away from our ills. Um even with a commitment to the running game and and when it goes, there’s going to be um some possessions where it’s third and six, third and seven, third and eight. Um, and those have been an area that we hadn’t functioned and we just got to keep pounding away at the rock in those areas to improve. Um, it’s one of the things I love about the league and it’s also one of the things that’s really harsh about this league. Um, when you have an area where you fall short, you going to get an opportunity uh to respond and bounce back. Uh, cuz people don’t turn the page uh at this level. um if you have a wart, if you had an area of shortcomings, um it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when you’re gonna get an opportunity to bounce back from that. And so certainly this weekend provides that opportunity and possession down play as we get ready to play Baltimore. Looking back on this season, you’ve had a lot of success stopping good running games. You saw it in the Green Bay game with Josh Jacobs. Uh Jonathan Taylor had no success running. The Bears generally, you shut down what was the number two rushing game in the NFL. This week was different though. What did they do? Uh, and TJ Watt talked about a play they ran over and over that seemed to be unstoppable. Yeah, they had, you know, first of all, they had a really good plan, but but secondarily, they got quarterback mobility and the the ability of Josh Allen to run and their willingness to run him makes you play 11 on 111 football at times and it’s really challenging, but it’s no different really than the challenges that we face this week. Um, and so that’s another point I was talking about. you get an opportunity uh to respond to your ills. Um certainly defending the run was a was a challenge a week ago and we certainly get an opportunity to answer that bell uh versus Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry this week. Uh Aaron Rogers brought up something interesting. I always wondered about this from a philosophical standpoint. Halftime adjustments. You hear people talk about it. Is is it is it real from a coaching standpoint? I know players can’t do much in there. you you know it’s it’s real in that it’s a continuation of conversations already had. Um plans and counter plans are developed prior to the game and and you have counter plan A and counter plan B. It depends on how things are unfolding and halftime is an opportunity to wrap a bow around some of that. But usually in today’s game you’re not afforded the opportunity to wait to halftime. Usually those are the type of conversations going on um with the staff in between series uh depending on what side of the ball that you’re on and then you wrap a bow around it and you do it in a real succinct collective sort of way uh at halftime. Um but again, I don’t want to overstate it. Halftime happens pretty quickly. Some people go to the bathroom, some people get retaped, etc., etc., and you got a few minutes to deliver some messaging. Um, and then the special teams coaches generally get two to three minutes at the end to wrap a bow around whatever’s happening in that phase. So, it all happens rather quickly. And so, the the the preparation prior to is a major component of it. And that’s probably the best way to describe it. It’s a continuation of conversations already had based on how you forecast things could unfold. All right, coach. Coming up, it’s the big game of the year so far. Two teams tied for first, the Ravens and Steelers. It plays out on Sunday at 1 on KDK TV. When we come back, we’ll talk about what Baltimore has been up to. Miss, let’s send it back to you. All right, thanks so much, Bob. Well, we want to tell you about Hayden Shock, a lifelong Steelers fan who was born with goldenhar syndrome. He’s the team’s 2025 fan of the year. And to learn much more about Hayden’s story and also for a chance to vote for him to become the NFL’s fan of the year, just go to the link below. And we also have a sneak peek for you at how Zach Frasier surprised Hayden with the news. I’m shocked. How’s it going? My My name is Zach. Zack. Yep. Nice to meet you. Uh I just want to say congratulations. Thank you so much. Yep. On being picked as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan of the year. Thank you so much. Yes, we do. No problem. The 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to the 84 Lumber Mike Tomlin Show. Well, Sunday will mark the first career meeting between Aaron Rogers and Lamar Jackson. And while the storyline would usually be about two multi-time MVP winners, the talk out of Pittsburgh this week is about stopping Derek Henry. For much more on round one of Steelers and Ravens, let’s head back to Bob and coach. Bob. Hey Missy, it always seems like it comes down to Ravens and Steelers. And here at the end of the year, two big games, one on Sunday, one:00 down in Baltimore. Two teams tied for the lead in the AFC North. So you’ve been down this road before you and Harbaugh. Um, and it, you know, a lot of the same characters, but when you talk about Baltimore, obviously they run the ball well. You found that out last year in that wild card game. Derrick Henry, still Derrick Henry, his numbers aren’t as good as in previous years, but this is a big challenge for you guys this week. It’s a big game. It’s a big challenge. And before I even get into Baltimore, let me just tell you that I absolutely love NFL scheduling. Um, the way that they set divisional games up toward the end, uh, the excitement associated with it. Um the fact that we get a chance to play Baltimore um at the end of this thing just like we did last year. It’s great for the game is great for our fans and theirs. Um and it’s an honor to be a part of it. Now relative to this game certainly, you know, we got our warts going into this game, but so do they. We’re both sitting at six and six and we’re both still in striking position, but it doesn’t come without some scars. And so, you know, we spent a lot of time talking about our scars, but they have some scars as well. And I think the team that has the leg up is the team that’s capable of men mending those cars and and playing with the motion and playing together. And so that’s what’s makes this weekend uh the anticipation this weekend so exciting. Certainly they turned the ball over quite a bit last week in their loss to Cincinnati. And so we expect them to go back to what they you know their nuts and bolts things and so that goes back to the ball in the hands of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Um, but certainly the same thing could be said uh for us as well. And so um the familiarity is going to be fun. The state that the two teams are in is going to be big time fun uh for our fans and it’s going to be Steelers Ravens. Yeah. And that means you’re going to see another mobile quarterback. Although he’s been injured a little bit this year, but still it’s Lamar Jackson. You know what he’s done. You face Caleb Williams and now Josh Allen. What are the strategic differences between those type of, you know, mobile quarterbacks? you know, the mobility oftent times it it’s about whether or not there’s designed quarterback runs. Um Caleb’s mobility is not not by schematic design. He extends plays, he buys time and things of that nature when plays, particularly passing plays don’t unfold on time. U Baltimore and Buffalo are in a separate category where they they have some designed quarterback runs. Now, those two quarterbacks are different. Obviously, Lamar is elusive and much more of a perimeter runner. Uh Josh Allen is a big guy. He finishes off runs. It’s more downhill. Um he’s more combative and physical once he gets into the secondary. Um Lamar’s just not as big a guy and his skill set lends itself more to eluding people. And so certainly um although they’re they’re the same in that it’s designed quarterback runs um how it plays out because of the differences in the guys is is significant. It starts with Derrick Henry, but they have guys who can certainly hurt you in the past game. Mark Andrews has been big for them. Uh just talk about Z Flowers and those guys. They don’t have a lot of depth at wide receiver in terms of numbers, but they have guys who have made plays. Baitman’s one of them as well. They got a nice divisional labor. Um Baitman is kind of the down the field guy, if you will. Um Zay Flowers is a catch and run guy. He utilize him in a lot of gadgets. He can win in the non-vertical space. Uh he’s really quick and elusive. Um and then, you know, I don’t want to forget Dehop. You know, DeHop is a veteran uh receiver, man. He is one of those one-on-one 50/50 ball guys. Always has been. We’ve seen evidence of it this year. Um you get in bump coverage versus DeHop. The quarterback has the ability to throw it over the top, throw it on the back shoulder. um his catch radius, his hands, the way he attacks the ball, he is a big- time challenge. And as you mentioned, the tight ends, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention those guys. He’s had a relationship with Mark Andrews since they came into the league in the same draft class in 2018 and likely has done a nice job of finding his space in the offense as well. And so, they do a really nice job of playing off the run game and the schematics that come with it and getting some one-on- ones on the perimeter. We got to be really solid in that space as well. Certainly defensively, uh, it’s unusual to see Baltimore sort of at the low end of the sack total. I think they only have 19 on the year. That’s 28th in the league. They’ve lost some guys there, but are they mostly staying back, you know, looking at interceptor possibilities with Nate Wiggins and people like that? I think really since they’ve since they’ve gotten on their run here in recent weeks, they’ve just there’s been a slight uptick in their pressure packages. There’s a saying in our business, if you can’t get pressure with four, then bring five. And I think that, you know, they’ve adopted that philosophy some. I know Kyle Hamilton, uh, their versatile safety is a major component of that. When you get in onedimensional passing circumstances, he slides down in their sub package defenses and and plays a linebacker-l like position. He’s a good blitzer. He’s good off the edge. He runs run plays down from behind. In recent weeks, that’s the feel that that you’re right, they’re probably not getting the pressure that they would like, and so four isn’t isn’t doing it, you bring five. but they’ve also uh picked up some acquisitions at the free agent deadline to to ease some of the challenges that they’ve had from a defensive perspective as well. Coach, thanks very much. Coming up, we’re going to have the keys to the game and there are several for this big game coming up on Sunday. Missy, let’s head back over to you. All right, thanks Bob. And hopefully it’s a December to remember for the Steelers. If you watched any game in this rivalry, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that Pittsburgh and Baltimore have played 40 onepossession games since the Ravens entered the NFL in 1996. That’s the most of any two teams. And coming up next, Mel Hodgej breaks down his latest playbook for us. Don’t go anywhere. 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 the week 14 questions. Will Jaylen Warren record a TD on Sunday? Yes or no? Just head to the Steelers mobile app now to compete for this week’s first place prize in autographed football by Warren. Good luck. Cincinnati snapped Baltimore’s fivegame winning streak last week. In that loss, Lamar Jackson had three giveaways and didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the third straight game. But as Mel Hodgej explains in this week’s playbook, there’s two players not named Lamar or Derek Henry. The Steelers defense will need to defend well. Hi everyone, welcome into the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for the playbook presented by Microsoft Co-Pilot. Now the Ravens, I think everybody knows Lamar Jackson, they know Derrick Henry. Um, those are obvious things that you got to deal with. But as you study their offense, there’s a couple other players that creates explosive elements. Flowers number four is a really big problem. And I want to show you a play they do about two or three times a game and they get almost everybody. It’s called a run action, but they get him wide open in this particular action. So, as we snap the ball, I’ll show you what run action is. And they do it very good. They sell runs. So, at the snap of the ball, the offensive line comes off and it looks like run. It looks like they’re blocking for run. Lamar Jackson has the ball out. Looks like Derrick Henry is going to get the hand off. Look how it paralyzes the box. Like nobody is backing up. There’s only one guy who’s running full speed at this point, and that’s Flowers right here at the top of the screen. Well, once he’s at full speed, like the 10 guys that are in this box are irrelevant now. They cannot respond to this. The safety’s in the middle of the field. Look at his feet. flatfooted. This is why run action is so effective and that’s why they do this. It’s only about two or three times a game, but they get him in voids in the back end. They paralyze the box. They get the ball in his hands and then once the ball’s in his hands, I mean, he’s dangerous. Um, in the open field, he makes people miss. They eventually run him down. But this is the kind of plays that you got to try to make sure that you avoid. And then Andrews, their tight end, he’s a problem. You know, the NFL is all about matchups because of his size and his ability to run routes. So, even Cleveland has a problem with him. They put a defensive back on him. Why? Because he runs routes so well. Um, down the bottom of the screen, let’s just roll the play. You’ll see why they put a defensive back on him. He’s such a good route runner. Now, he comes inside, he’s already won. Now, it’s a bad throw, so he has to go down and catch it. But a linebacker, that’s a hard ask for them to cover a guy like that. But his size is a problem with defensive backs. Again, here on third down, he’s at the top of the screen. Another defensive back. Now, they switch defensive backs to try to match up to him, but again, it’s still a problem. Uh, at the top of the screen, he runs a great route. He beats the defensive back. When he beats the defensive back, then you got to get help if you’re going to try to get him on the ground because of his size. And to put a linebacker on him is a risk because he runs such good routes that he’s going to beat them. So, these two guys, you got to hold them down and you can’t allow big explosive plays. They’re getting healthier, but these two guys are a big concern when you play the Ravens. Um, finding ways to match up will be critical uh in this in this game. And make sure you catch the rest of Merryill’s playbooks on the team’s official YouTube page. Will the NFL schedule makers get an A+ for how they laid out the last five weeks of the regular season, especially when it comes to the Steelers and Ravens? Two games in a very short period of time. And also, the winner of week 14 will take sole possession of first place in the AFC North. It’s time now for Keys to the Game presented by your neighborhood Ford store. Let’s send it back one final time to Bob and Coach, guys. Hey Missy, thanks very much. The keys and there are always big keys in these kinds of games. It’s a big game. I would imagine it starts with run game. You guys have had success against teams earlier, not so much last week. You got to zero in on that again this week. Certainly for us, it’s stopping the run when you face Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson, but it’s also running the ball effectively for us. Uh we better minimize the impact of the environment on on possession downs. And you do that by staying on schedule. We talked a little bit about that. I think that is big and certainly when these two teams come together, uh the third phase, the special teams phase is a major component of how things unfold. Um the field position component of the game is generally been a big bone of contention in these matchups. Um and so man, we’re looking for a splash in that phase. We’re looking for solid coverage. We’re looking for an explosive return. Um Justice Hill is a dynamic return guy for them. um he’s down and so they got some adjustments in that space and um it’s just going to be significant in all areas. Um every down is going to be big. Uh the fourth downs are going to be big and you can almost anticipate them. Um everyone’s going to have to be schematically aggressive in the pursuit of victory. I know that we’ll be prepared to do so. I know that they live that life as well and so I probably be remiss if I didn’t talk about the potential prospects of fourth down football and what that looks like. Real quick, I want to ask you about third quarters. Last year you guys were one of the best in the league. This year not so much. Can you pinpoint a difference coming out of halftime? It certainly is execution for us. Um it has been in recent weeks. Um case in point, the last two football games, Chicago and last week, um we did what we want. We we we had the ball to start the half. And so usually if you got the lead in the ball, you feel good about it. But as I mentioned, we turn the ball over some. And that’s just what you can’t do under any circumstances. And it’s just highlighted by this third quarter discussion. we’ve had here in recent weeks. Coach, all the best. Thank you. Look forward to seeing you uh in Baltimore. That game 1:00 on KDK. We begin as always 11:30 a.m. with a Bet MGM Steelers kickoff and then postgame follows the game. First place on the line. It should be a fun day for football on Sunday. That’s going to do it for our program for Mike Tomlin and Missy Matthews. I’m Bob Pompian. Thanks for joining us on the 84 lumber Mike Tomlin Show. We’ll see you again next week.

On this week’s episode of The Mike Tomlin Show, Bob Pompeani and Coach Mike Tomlin talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers Week 14 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens and the keys to winning the game.

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