Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 11 vs Cincinnati Bengals) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 11 vs Cincinnati Bengals) | Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Good afternoon everyone. Bob Pompiano here soon to be joined by Missy Matthews. We are live today at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and set for Mike Tomlin’s press conference ahead of a game and a big one. One of four AFC North matchups remaining on the schedule. The Cincinnati Bengals come to town this week. They’re three and six pretty desperate. The Steelers lost one out Wester 5 and four with now a one-game lead over the Ravens. There’s a lot to talk about. A lot of things need to be fixed coming after that game, a 25-10 loss. So, let’s hear from Mike Tomlin. He’s addressing the media. Good afternoon. Uh, as always, I’ll start with a quick synopsis of the last performance. And really after combing through the tape, um my perspective hadn’t changed a whole lot on the on the significant components of the game and and why it unfolded the way it unfolded. Uh we certainly were not good enough on in possession down play on offense and that affected us in a lot of ways. First and foremost, the scoreboard. Um you got to possess the ball in an effort to score. Um and certainly if you’re not doing a good enough job on possession downs, you need to have some big play splash. and we didn’t really have either. Um sometimes uh you can hit a 50-yard ball or what have you and flip the field um and change the trajectory of that. And so a combination of uh possession down failures coupled with a lack of big- time field flipping plays uh produce the outcome that it did. Um at the same time um it alters your time of possession. And I thought we had the bones of a really good run game uh by playing and performance, but I think Jaylen only had 14 carries. Uh that happens uh when you don’t win enough possession downs and maintain possession of the ball. Um flip side on the other side, the defense ends up on the field, the time of possession a lot. Um I thought we had the bones of a good run stopping defense um for the game, but as the game wore on, I thought we wore down defensively um because of the imbalance in terms of the time of possession. And so it just speaks to the significance of of playing good ball on third down uh offensively. Um we certainly know that um but we certainly suffered the consequences of not doing so um on Sunday night in LA. Um for us it really wasn’t anything um earthshattering to be quite honest with you or or things that we haven’t seen. Um they didn’t pressure us a lot. Most people don’t pressure Aaron a lot. um they they did things schematically to make us distribute the ball elsewhere other than DK. Well, we see that week in and week out. I just think, you know, from a planning perspective and a playing perspective, all of us involved, coaches and players, we didn’t do a good enough job positioning the others to be impactful and the others didn’t make enough plays. Um and that’s just the reality of it. So, with that understanding, man, we go back to work. Um, I think on the other side, um, you know, I’m feeling some stability there that we’ve gotten really solid with Jaylen Ramsey and Kyle Duggar at safety. Um, I think there’s been a reduction in some of the big plays. I think we’re making people earn it more. Um, I think that’s helping us in a lot of ways. Um, I thought our possession down play was improved in that space. Um, and so I’m excited about that stability um, that we’ve got at the safety position between those two. and had hadn’t had a lot of it. And so it’s reasonable to expect uh the trajectory of some of those things to improve. Um certainly we didn’t win the turnover battle. Um that’s the X factor. Um when some other things aren’t going well, you can always lean on that and that’s why culturally we value uh the protection and preservation of the ball. Be it running, throwing or catching and the ball searching on defense. Um what a good day for us in that regard. Um we turned the ball over a couple times on offense, man, drop passes and overthrows um and certainly we didn’t settle under a punt um in the kicking game as well. And so um you know, there’s a lot to be learned um from that performance. Usually when you’re learning, that means you’re not successful. Uh but it’s an opportunity to learn nonetheless. Um, we’re excited about getting back in AFC North play, man, and getting hyperfocused on the opportunity that is this week in Akashure versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Before I get into that, man, I just want to give you a quick um injury update. Um, Cole Hulcom is still working his way back to us, man. He’ll be a limited participant to start the week, and we’ll see where uh that participation uh goes in terms of the amount and the quality of it. Um, Slay is in the uh concussion protocol and so we’ll let the protocol determine his availability. Um, Pep Peppers um was running in a limited capacity the latter part of last week. I’d imagine that’ll make him a limited participant tomorrow and we’ll kind of go from there. Um, Isaac Smallu is expected to participate um in some capacity and then kind of build and go on from there. Um, but but we’re optimistic about his return. Scotty Miller um has been cleared to practice with his broken finger and we have some other bumps and bruises associated with play that may limit some people and there may be some veteran players etc that we manage at the early portions of the week this time of year. Um but none of those we expect to be significant in terms of uh player availability. Um if so I’ll give you guys an update. Um now on to the Bengals. I’ll start first with the defense. Um, you know, they traded Logan Wilson and so they got a young linebacker tandem. Um, and that’s been, you know, that’s kind of the mentality that I’ve had. What’s new, um, with the Bengals, we played him just a short number of weeks ago. They just played in only two games since then. And so, um, you know, moving on from Logan Wilson, man, in the young linebacker tandem has my attention. Um, studied both guys a lot in the draft. Um, both guys were wise beyond their years. um and and displayed that in their play. Um it’s not shocking that they’re getting an opportunity to play because of that personal maturity that that I observed from those two in the draft process. Um they’re certainly doing a nice job of communicating and being a hub of communication for the defense. Um they’ve had some instability on the edge uh with Trey missing some time, with Shamar missing some time and and so uh we’re certainly respectful of what they’re capable of on the edge, particularly if Trey is available. We just don’t understand what that might be. I know, uh from a planning perspective this time of week, um as you start to put together plans, we better be inclusive. Uh we better assume that he’s playing. uh we better have enough schematic answers because he’s the type of guy that can really dictate what transpires in stadiums. Uh as I mentioned the last time we were getting ready to prepare for them. Uh this guy had um 35 sacks um in the last two years and 23 and 24 17 and a half in both um that’s the most in football um excluding no one. And so he’s the type of guy um that can obviously change the climate. The last time we played these guys in Aashure I think he had three sacks. And so, uh, we better proceed with that understanding. Um, in the secondary, um, they’re really gaining some traction, man, with a collection of guys that’s been working together now for a couple of years. Um, DJ Turner’s playing really well. I think he leads the NFL and passes defense. He had a big game against us. Uh, last time we played him, he largely traveled uh, with DK for for one-on-one uh, matchup purposes. Dax Hill is versatile. He plays inside and out. uh last week or the last time they played versus Chicago, he was a major component of the pressure game. They blitzed him a lot uh from that Nickelback position. Um they got a safety tandem now that’s played together for a couple of years as we get to the hump of the season, get on the other side of it uh with Gino Stone and Battle man, they’ve been back there together for 20 plus games now. And you see that you see that cohesion that comes with working together, how they divide the labor up and how they work together. Gino Stone is usually the guy in the middle of the field and plays free safety. He’s got 10 interceptions in 23 and 24. Um he’s got good angles to the ball, uh ball judgment, vision of the quarterback, things of that nature. And so we got to do a real good job there managing um you know, our talents versus theirs. Alen, I think we got a better sense of how he’s trying to do it. Having been in the stadium with him, uh he’s new new to them as a coordinator. Uh but we got a pretty decent sample size now as we lean in on this game in terms of some of the things that he tries to do within their schematics and how he deploys people. On the other side of the ball, I’ll go to the offense. It’s four games now uh with Flaco at quarterback and so it’s less mystical about, you know, how are they going to utilize his talents, how he’s going to utilize the talents of those that he works with, how he distributes the ball in a variety of circumstances. uh possession down ball versus pressure, etc. The lens through which he sees their schematics and um as I mentioned the last time we played him, his processing, the fluidity of it, his experience is an asset to him and to them. And I imagine that’s why they acquired him. I think that’s that’s played out and unfolded in a big way uh for him and them with each passing week. He threw for 470 yards last week. Um, I think with each passing week, you’re seeing another dynamic of of of him getting comfortable within their attack. The Bears, for example, spent a lot of time in two high safeties trying to minimize uh T and and Chase. Um, and he hit eight passes to Brown uh for 75 yards in the form of checkdowns and so forth. And so I just think he’s getting increasingly comfortable with the totality of his group. Um when to go to who and why. Um that creates a challenge for us, but it also creates clarity for us. Um because the more snaps they have on video, um the more evident he his and their personality is for those that compete against them. And so excited about pitting our skills against theirs. Certainly the receiver tandem is is awesome and special. Um but they do a nice job distributing the ball man. Noah Fant um has made a lot of plays increasingly so um since Gaseki has been injured and as I mentioned last week man I really think Joe really found Brown in the passing game as well. Um they have other supplementary guys that you got to be able to deal with and certainly uh you better be ready to deal with them as you do some of the things that you do to minimize those top two targets. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about uh their run game. I think that they’ve done a nice job of running the ball as well. Um I think Joe Flacco h handles the RPO game very well. Um they’re able to call more runs. Um when appropriate, they hand the ball off and they’ve been getting good, you know, good yards per in that area. But when you load the box, man, he’ll throw the ball on the perimeter um to Chase. Chase has caught a lot of balls. Um particularly against uh the Jets, for example. Man, I can’t tell you how many run game alternative uh passes he caught on the perimeter as the Jets loaded the box. And so just with each passing week, you’re seeing more and more of what they’re capable of with Joe. Um it aids you in prep, but it doesn’t make uh the challenge of the work any less daunting. Uh but that’s what we’re here for as competitors. Um is big time AFC Northball. Um, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the special teams component. Um, Darren has been their coordinator for a long time. U, Charlie, uh, Charlie Jones ran a kickback the other week. Um, I think he’s got three, um, returns for touchdowns in his in his three-year career. Um, one one punt return and two kickoff. And so, the field position component of this game is is and always will be significant. Uh, Darren and Danny Smith been going at it a long time, man. those two Grizzly veterans will be another chapter in their story this weekend. All of the above will be reasons why to tune in um and and be big factors for for why this game’s a big one for us. I’m excited about the prep process. They show your excitement for a game like this through the prep process. And so been a good couple of days from a staff perspective of formulating strategy, dividing the workup, etc. Can’t wait to get on the field with the team tomorrow and continue. I’ll pause and open it up for questions. Mike, you mentioned this at the beginning. Um the play disparity every game’s on average like 14 or 15 plays. Is that and is that concerning to you or how do you how do you change that? Um on some level it is, on some level it isn’t. Uh sometimes it can get out of whack because you’re taking the ball away for example. Um, and if you’re taking the ball away a bunch like we did a couple of weeks back, um, and you’re giving the offense to short fields, um, it can alter your time of possession or like our last outing, if you’re not converting on third downs, it could be a negative thing. And so, um, I large I’m largely, um, not over concerned with with that in general, but but how are we coming to that is is a bigger discussion for me. Aaron expressed a desire, a hope to maybe get Jaylen Warren some more touches. Can that dovetail with your hopes of trying to get better on third down? Maybe implement Jaylen on third downs more. We win more third downs, we’ll get Jaylen more touches. It’s as simple as that. You know, Jaylen was having the the trajectory of a good day in LA, but we didn’t convert enough third downs for you to really really feel it. So, you don’t you won’t have any interest in leaving him on the field for third downs as opposed to putting Kenny out there? I’m I’m comfortable with both backs in possession down ball, not taking anything away from Jaylen. Um, you know, he plays a lot on first and second down. You got to give them opportunities to catch a break and um and so sometimes on it’s on third down, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes we’ll give other ball carriers um the start of a possession. Uh he just simply cannot play every down, but I’m completely comfortable utilizing both guys on possession down play. Mike, you mentioned, you know, teams are still paying DK a lot of attention. We’re eight, nine games in. I mean, should the other guys have made steps now to sort of mitigate that? And at times we certainly have um but last week was an example um of us not doing so. But um in other weeks um it certainly has been the case. Each and every week it seems like somebody um whether it’s from the wide out room or the tight end room um steps up and has quality contributions that balance that out. But certainly that was not the case in LA. You guys had some moving pieces up front on the offensive line. How do you assess the job they did in pass protection and then within that Rogers ability to move and adjust to that pass rush? You know, um specifically um talking about Spencer Anderson and Pete, I thought that they were above the line. Um and so that’s the new component of it relative to the question that you asked, but just largely um as an offensive line certainly we could have protected better in that football game. Would that be because Spencer you like him so much in that role that you did the kind of the repeating to guard instead of just Correct. Mike, how much does moving Ramsay to safety kind of affect the plan for Chase and and Higgins in this game from relative to what you guys did last time? You mean their plan or our plan? Your plan. You know, I think we’re still very much in development. Um, you know, um, Jaylen is is not the issue, man. He’s got flexibility. It’s about the flexibility of those around him and the talents of those around him. Uh but certainly over the last two weeks, man, just his presence consistently at free safety has been a stabilizing force for us on the back end and I’d imagine that’s not going to change. What have you seen from James Pierre the last couple weeks filling in there at the outside quarter? James is always game. Um I thought he played really well. Um but I thought he’s played really well when called upon all year. Um, I think it’s reflective of how he prepares and the level of professionalism that he brings day in and day out. Um, man, it’s been cool to watch the growth and development um, of his career over the time that he’s been here. Um, if you remember, man, he was a undrafted COVID guy. Um, and I think globally, man, it was singledigit guys that made rosters undrafted uh, that co year. Um, and and he’s been one of them. Um I didn’t meet him until we reported to camp, you know, and and you know, that’s a memory. U but just over over the course of his career, I think since he’s been here, he’s played in more games uh than anyone on our roster. He’s always available. Um he’s a dynamic special teams player and um and he’s a rising defender, particularly in 2025. Mike, what can you do to actually what do you think is probably some of the biggest reasons why you guys have probably been a little more inconsistent this year when it comes to great performance against the Colts and then, you know, this kind of performance against the Chargers? You know, I I I think it’s just complimentary football or lack thereof at times. There have been some games where we haven’t played the way we desired defensively um due to tangible and intangible reasons. There have been a couple of games offensively where we’ve done similar things and I just think that the more that you can come to the party with a high level of consistency in all three phases uh the better chance you have to play complimentary positive complimentary football and there certainly been uh several weeks where one way or the other we’ve we’ve been lacking in in a certain component of our our collective that that’s that’s you know made to engineer the victory a little bit more challenging. Obviously, there’s individual aspects of why whatever unit was struggling, but is there anything you do globally for the whole team to try to foster better um complimentary football? Is there something you can inject into the team at this point? Well, largely on a routine basis, not in a reactionary sort of way. We work to have as much competitive football as we can have. Steelers versus Steelers. Uh we started most of our practices with some form of competitive football, one offense versus one defense. We finish most of our practices um with one offense versus one defense and some form of competitive football. I just think competing is the catalyst for for raising the floor on both sides of the ball and and providing an avenue for complimentary play. Um and but we don’t wait for us to be lacking in a particular area before we do that. That’s just part of of of how we choose to approach it culturally. I think there’s no substitute uh for high level competition. and that’s what waits on us in stadiums. And so as much as you can do that in preparation, um I think it’s beneficial while at the same time you have to provide looks because you’re going to get somebody that deploys different talents, different schematics and so it’s something worth balancing. Mike Aaron made some uncharacteristic mistakes and Smith bros not seeing things. You credit Jesse Mentor with doing things that kept you guys off off schedule at times. What do you guys have to do coaching wise to to counter what you guys saw there and keep it from being a blueprint to use against this offense? You know, as I mentioned, it wasn’t the first time we saw that blueprint and so I’m not going to pretend like some of the things that we saw that created the negative result was new. Um, we’ve conquered it before and so it’s reasonable to expect us to conquer it again. Um, but we did not have a good day Sunday night. Certainly with Aaron with Aaron not having a good day, the high throw, some of those misses. Are there any long-term concerns of things that have been recurring with him specifically in that game or is it just an off night? I’m I’m not going to, you know, chalk it up to an off night, but there are no long-term concerns. Mike, what have been the concerns from a third down standpoint offensively here over the last three games? As I mentioned, you know, um, you know, we haven’t done a good enough job of of putting others other than DK in position to win and win big, and they haven’t won big enough. Um, we got to do a better job there. Like, when you say you’re not going to chalk it up to an off night, but no long-term concerns, is that because of Jesse Mentor, or is there something else? I’m just not going to allow your words to be my words, that’s all. How would you describe errands? Um, Sunday night was what it was. Um, but I have no uh long-term reservations about his ability to play the position and play the position at a high level for us. Mike, talk to about making creating more plays dynamically, you know, getting down the field. NVS, he’s been here a week now. Will he have an opportunity to maybe show you guys what he’s got this week? Getting We’ll see what the week holds for him and all the others on practice squad. Man, we’re not opposed to elevating people and giving them an opportunity to contribute. I think it’s just been been about every game this this year where we’ve elevated someone um and and and utilized their talents. Last week it was um Mark Rob Mark Robinson uh who just reacquired um several other weeks, man. It’s been Trey Surman, for example. Um, and so I’m certainly uh open um to evaluating Scantling his ability to to know what to do and the quality of that execution um and how it might fit into what we’re trying to do offensively in an effort to engineer victory. Certainly. Mike, you guys let go of Juan Thorn and we went from being a starter to a guy that you could play that you guys didn’t even call upon as a backup. What happened to lead to his being let go of the team? You know, the the play wasn’t up to snuff. Um and and and Castro was available to us. Uh we went through the team development process with Castro. Thought he had a good camp. Um good preeason. Um he played his tail off in that practice against the Bucks. I think that’s why, you know, they stole him from us and we had an opportunity to reacquire him. Uh we’ve absorbed some attrition since he left and so it was a opportunity to get him back. It’s more about Castro um and less about Juan. When it comes to the time of possession and the number of plays run, would you like to see the running game leaned on a little bit more, especially early in games or Again, as I said a million times, man, if we win enough third downs, we’ll run the ball more because we’ll have more snaps. Mike, we talk about like results or process. Obviously, you give some games there’s six takeaways, five takeaways, and zero. Do you you watch the tape even like Sunday night? Do you see it’s just I want to say luck, but the other team took care of the ball. Do you still like the process in terms of getting splash plays defensively? Yeah, we we don’t chalk it up to luck, man. Um it’s a culture that we work on. Uh the ball awareness, the ball hunting, uh when to appropriately do so where we’re tackling it and compromised, etc. Um it it is an agenda of ours. Sometimes it turns turns up in the form of five or six takeaways. Sometimes it turns up in the form of zero, but it doesn’t lessen our attention to that area and our commitment to that area. Um but it’s twofold. It’s not only the hunting of the football. Um it’s the preservation of the football on the other side of it. And that’s one of the things that I was referring to when I was talking about the competition component of practice. Um stealer versus stealer. Um when we place an emphasis on ball searching and hunting, um we’re also fortifying our ball security from an offensive perspective. And certainly the turnover ratio is something that we desire to be great in. Um and so it’s two sides to that coin. Uh but when you work, you’re working both sides of it. Pat has frequently had success against Cincinnati over the years. Um is that because of something how his skill set meshes against their defensive approach or is that something that’s transferable you think to Jonno and your other tight ends potentially? They play a lot of zone uh or they’ve played a lot of zone particularly with their previous coordinator. Um and that’s why he’s had some big games against those guys. Um there’s no secret that that Muth has got very good zone awareness and he’s a zone killer. Um and and that’s why he’s had some of the games that he’s had against those guys. Even Mike, even when Calvin came back from injury, Keshan stated as a punt returner. Was that on merit because of what he was doing? And then how does his lack of ball security affect, you know, as as Calvin came back from injury, want we wanted him to focus on getting back up to speed offensively? Um key had done an above the line job in that space, but certainly uh we’ll look at it this week and make a make plans accordingly given what transpired in the last game. Mike, what do you need to do better this time than stopping Jamar Chase? You know, make them throw the ball elsewhere. Um, but when you make them throw the ball elsewhere, it’s guys like T. Higgins that are capable of getting you as well. Um, they’ve got big-time talent. Um, they they’re they’re unique in the ways that they distribute him the ball. Um, they got some RPO football uh where they have some call runs. Um, and if you load the box, they’ll throw him the ball on the perimeter. Um, it might not be significant. It might be five or six yards here, but it keeps him engaged and and included in what it is that they’re doing. And and dynamic players like that, man, they got to touch it. And so, the more he touches it, the more impactful he’s going to be on the game. And so, it starts first and foremost with working to minimize his touches. You don’t always have control of that. Um, but when he does touch the ball, you certainly have to tackle the catch because he’s one of the best run after guys on the planet. And that’s without question. Mike, do you, you know, worried that you guys have become a little maybe a little too predictable on offense with your personnel groups and that stuff? I don’t. Why not? I mean, you said the Chargers didn’t have the necessarily for like they didn’t do something new, but you guys weren’t successful at it. So, because we didn’t execute well, Mike, where are Will Howard and Cory Trace on are they on track to return from IR? They’ve been practicing. Yeah, we got a decision to make and I’m sure we will and when we do, we’ll let you guys know. Following up on your earlier com other you’ve seen the blueprint before that stop that stopped your offense. What do you guys have coaches have to do to to better counter that you seeing that moving forward if more teams start? As I mentioned um we’ve worked to put guys in a variety of positions um to move the chains on third down other than DK. Um it’s their job to do so when we do. We’ve done a better job of that in the past in other games than we did on Saturday. The results speak for itself. And so with that understanding, we’re going back to work this week and we got to put together a better plan. We got to make more plays. You talked about having depth at corner as a part of the decision to move Ramsay to safety with Slay potentially out. Do you still feel like you have enough depth there to do that? I do. What guys maybe beyond the one obviously Joey, but I mean Eckles and Pierre is there is there are there more options beyond that available to you? And all of those guys have played and played quality ball and played quality ball in the last game. And so it’s reasonable to expect them to position themselves, particularly with a week’s work if if Slay is unavailable um to do so. Again, he certainly will be limited during the course of the week because he’s in the protocol. When he’s limited, that provides additional reps for other people. Um James Pierre, for example, played a good football game on a limited amount of reps last week. If Slay’s unavailable this week, that just means more reps for him during the course of the pro process of preparation. And so, I’m comfortable with our depth there. Anyone else? When you play a game that’s in the 30s against a team, you play him again four weeks later or whatever, do you have a more aggressive mindset in terms of your decisions or in terms of your way you want the play calling to be because you figure you need a lot of points? I just been in this league long enough to know that every game unfolds a little bit differently. Uh, I try to put together a plan in totality um to engineer a victory regardless of circumstances. And sometimes some of those discussions are best had um when you’re there. Um, you can waste a lot of time pondering hypotheticals um this early in the week. We better just put together a really good plan in totality. All right, thanks guys. All right, that’s Mike Tomlin uh completing his press conference today. Bob Pompiani along with Missy Matthews here. He covered a lot of ground about the Bengals about they what they’d like to do and change from the first time they met and also some of the things they need to do to fix their third down problems which we saw last week against the Chargers but also injuries. They always play a role in this. U and certainly in Cincinnati’s case they just saw Joe Burrow return activate a 21-day window but he’s not going to play in this game and neither is Trey Hendrickson. The Steelers also have some injuries to deal with and they traded away Logan Wilson uh since the last time these two teams had met. was week seven. Thursday Night Football feels like forever ago, but not really. But in terms of the Steelers injuries, Darius Slay, of course, left the game on Sunday night in LA. He’s in the concussion protocol. Cole Hulkcom, who’s missed a few games with an illness, is working his way back, according to coach Tomlin. In terms of Jabril Peppers, quad injury, he will be limited tomorrow. Scotty Miller had that surgery on his broken finger. He will be cleared to practice, so we might see him in some form or fashion this week. And then Isaac Seumalu who unfortunately missed the game against the Chargers with that pec injury that he reinjured. Uh they are optimistic that he could hopefully return. So we’ll see what happens there. Steelers certainly would like to get back on the winning track. Again, it comes down to head-to-head competition. It always does in these divisions and there are four big games that remain and the first of which is Sunday when the Bengals come to town. We’ll talk more about that. Break it all down for you as we continue on this Tomlin Tuesday. This is the Mike Tomlin press conference on KDKA Plus and Steeler digital platforms. 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. Uh, a lot of stuff wasn’t working. You know, we were bad on third down. Uh, I was just a little bit off. You know, I missed DK early. Could have been a big play. A little high to Janu. Um but yeah, we didn’t uh you know, didn’t run the ball super effectively in the first half. I missed obviously some throws for sure. And then uh yeah, we weren’t getting uh getting guys open and just put it put it all together. You know, times that guys were open, I missed some throws I usually make. And missing those throws, was it something that they were to affect you or was it something that you felt that you were just off tonight? I just missed a couple throws. Efficiency. What’s the problem tonight? What were they doing to make it so difficult? Plastering our guys. Uh we didn’t run the ball as well as we usually do and then we didn’t get open and I didn’t play as well as I usually do. You started running the ball in the second half. change something or anything? No, no, we changed a couple of the runs, but now we just, you know, Jaylen made some really nice plays. He’s a talented guy. We got to get more more touches. What’ you say? I didn’t really see anybody open and I felt like when I stepped up, I saw Mac and I I didn’t realize that he had kind of lost touch with uh with Troy. I should have stolen the ball somebody’s feet there. Our fans are here. Give them something to cheer about today. The crowd is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my defense is swarming. It is kicked off. What a catch. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. I’m I’m comfortable with both backs in possession down ball, not taking anything away from Jaylen. Um, you know, he plays a lot on first and second down. you got to give them opportunities to catch a break and um and so sometimes on it’s on third down, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes we’ll give other ball carriers um the start of a possession. Uh he just simply cannot play every down, but I’m completely comfortable utilizing both guys on possession down play. That’s Mike Tomlin talking about Jaylen Warren who really had things going on Sunday night in Sofi Stadium. Um he was on pace for over 100 yards. You just didn’t get enough carries to get him there and he was very good in the pass game as well. Uh, so when it comes to third down, he did not play on any of those third down situations. Uh, I think the way he was going, maybe he should have done more of those. Maybe that would have resulted in a in a uh, you know, third down completion and an extended drive, but we did not see that. But he is certainly a guy you’d want to get the ball to more, I think. Yeah, I mean, Aaron Rogers flat out said it after the game that, you know, Jaylen was kind of humming and he’s somebody who deserves more snaps now. Completely agree. uh too many three and outs it took until you know even the second half to get a first down conversion um for the offense. So limited and a number of snaps I’m sure DK Mechov felt like he should have uh you know more things going towards him. Uh but in terms of Jaylen I just think when you’re two and 11 two of 11 on third downs um and he is just somebody who is always able to it feels like pick up those extra yards. You can check down to him in the flat. He’s good at pass catching. kind of agree with Aaron that we need to see him just a little bit more and it did feel like he was on pace to have a big night, but then things really started, you know, the wheels fell off on that offense and it did feel like they couldn’t get their footing back. Yeah, no question about that. And you know, Warren was big in the pass game. He made the 125 yd completion. Gainwell had more snaps than any of the running backs, which again seems strange for him. But Missy, a larger thing is just offense in general. They’ve only averaged 55 snaps a game, and that tells you that they are then losing the time of possession game. When you do that, you’re playing right into the hands of teams that have good offenses. And I think in this case coming up on Sunday, you’d want to limit Joe Flacco and the opportunities he has. Yeah. I think, you know, in terms of losing the time of possession game, that’s been a theme unfortunately for this team the entire year. They’ve been able to get wins despite losing it on some occasions, but I think especially when you were playing Justin Herbert and this offense on Sunday night, you knew what they were capable of uh not only on the air, but just in terms of running the the running the ball as well. And we go back to that Thursday night game. Chase Brown ended up having a big big game. You didn’t want that to happen. Didn’t think that that could happen based on what they had going in. Um but then Jamar Chase targeted over 20 times 16 catches. You know, T. Higgins had a big night as well. So, it is something that they need to work on for sure. But then losing the turnover battle on top of losing the time of possession battle, I you’re you’re never going to win when that happens. No, not at all. But, you know, you got to extend drives and keep that defense off the field. Although having said that, I thought the Steelers defense uh in Los Angeles was really good. When you sacked the quarterback five times, knowing they had uh you know, different people at tackles, they were missing their top three guys. That defense stepped up and made plays. They pressure Justin Herbert 33 times, but when you’re on the field as much as they are, you know, things can happen not in your favor. And I thought the key, at least for me, was that turning point was the interception right before halftime. It was only a 5 to3 game. And if they go in at five to three, it’s a totally but they got a short field and Manki scores with 12 seconds left in the half. And that to me changed a lot of things. Yeah, it broke it open for sure. Um even going back, you know, I I really wish Joey Porter would have got that interception. Uh because it just felt like they were humming even more at that point. And you know, the Steelers defense though did however give the Steelers offense a short field on several occasions or at least in good field position where things could have happened. Um, unfortunately it didn’t even, you know, an off night Chris Boswell missing a field goal. That’s not something that we see very often, at least not where there’s not something that plays into it where it’s blocked or he slips on the turf, whatnot. Um, but you could tell though that the Steelers defense, uh, due to the amount of time, minutes, physical minutes they were on the field, they were starting, uh, you know, to get pretty tired and not getting a chance to get a break. When you go three and out, that, you know, that starts to kind of get at you. Yeah. And you talk about field position. Right off the bat, the opening kickoff, it was Cameron Dicker who kicked it out of bounds. So, they get the ball at the 40 yardd line and then a three and out followed that. Those are the things we’re talking about taking advantage of field position, moving at least into Boswell range, which at this point is 65 yards. Yeah. I mean, he was hitting Max Stark said he saw him hit a 64 yard uh during pregame warm-up. So, his thing was any time he was on, you know, the the lightning bolt on the middle of the field on the 50, like you were in Bos range basically. It’s amazing how these kickers have gone. I mean, some of these 65, 68 yard kicks we’ve seen, and they keep on coming. All right, we’re going to talk about Cincinnati and some other things the Steelers have to certainly fix as they head into this game. And it is a big game. Make no mistake about it. The Bengals are desperate, too. They’re three and six and they came off home losses, Missy, to two teams. I thought they were going to win. They were in position to win one of those probabilities of like 99%. All of a sudden, their defense collapsed and they lost both. We’ll talk about that and more as we continue right here on KDK Plus and Steeler digital platforms. Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about them. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my defense is warming. It’s picked off. What a catch. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at AAR State. Here we go. Inconsistent as it could be. Too much up and down, not enough Steeler football. Um I mean, we can’t continue to live and die by the turnovers as a defense. We need to get off the field. We need to stop the run. Um critical third downs. we need to do better job of and um no excuse for it. We need to play better. I don’t know. I’ll have to look at the film of that. Um could definitely feel a lot of plays, but we need to get off the field. That’s our job is to get on and off the field as quick as possible. Good defenses, spend a lot of time on the bench, and we haven’t been doing that enough in totality this whole year. What did you feel like you guys were doing well, especially in the first half, first quarter? Felt like you were shutting them down. Yeah, I mean, we felt like we were stopping the run early. Felt like we were creating some pressure. Um, getting off the field. Um, just weren’t able to sustain it enough to make an impact tonight. Something we’re going have to take a look at for sure is the third one this year to lay an egg time after time again is unacceptable. We need to look at everything. You said you can’t rely on the turnovers. Did feel like there were a couple maybe you guys could have had early in the game. Could that have changed the way things go? Absolutely. And I mean we’re an advantageous group. We we feel like we have the opportunity to get a turnover in every play and um we’re punching at the ball. We’re doing everything we possibly can, but we just weren’t able to get the ball out. Um but on those days you’re not able to get the ball out, you need to bow up on those big time third down situations and get off the field and we weren’t able to do that. 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. They’re unique in the ways that they distribute him the ball. Um they got some RPO football uh where they have some call runs um and if you load the box, they’ll throw him the ball on the perimeter. Um it might not be significant. It might be five or six yards here, but it keeps him engaged and and included in what it is that they’re doing. And and dynamic players like that, man, they got to touch it. And so the more he touches it, the more impactful he’s going to be on the game. And so it starts first and foremost with working to minimize his touches. You don’t always have control of that. Um but when he does touch the ball, you certainly have to tackle the catch because he’s one of the best run after guys on the planet. And that’s without question. as Mike to Tom Tomlin talking about Jamar Chase and why not that guy is dynamic and complimenting him on the other side of course T. Higgins when you focus so much on those guys. Joe Flacco is smart enough to know if they’re going to be covered, he will go to other play. We saw Yoshivos make plays. We saw Brown make plays. This is a tough assignment. Last time they played though, 23 target, 16 receptions. You talked about that. What do you think the best strategy is to try to take him? And again, it’s pick your poison with these guys. I mean, I do like having Jaylen Ramsay, uh, you know, staying at safety. Kyle Duggar. I feel like, you know, a full week of work, they were able to kind of uh get that duo to mesh well in very quickly, but I do think in terms of Darius Slay in the concussion protocol, you’re not going to know just yet. Uh, Coach Tomlin talked a lot during his press conference about James Pierre who did step in. Um, but as soon as Slay went out and Pierre went in and even you saw some more Brandon Nichols, you saw Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense going against those guys, uh, trying to, you know, go different directions and whatnot. So, I think having some time to practice this week for James Pierre. Um, if Slay, you know, depending on what he’s able to do or not do due to the concussion protocol, that could play into it. But regardless, uh, Jamar Chase is Jamar Chase. And when you add in T. Higgins as well, I think he had 10 targets, uh, six catches that Thursday night game on top of what Jamar had, that that’s a lot. Um, and you know, Joe Flacco, they had a byee last week, but their last game against the Bears threw for 470 yards, four touchdowns. He did have two interceptions, but clearly he’s not a afraid to to sling it and he knows which guys to go to. So for the Steelers defense, they have to figure this out. And even though, you know, Joe Burrow is making his way back, the quarterback has not been the problem. I mean, the Bengals are one and six without Burrow, but that’s a little bit deceiving. The offense has been really good with Fleco. It’s their defense that continues to be the problem. But the other thing I think you should, you know, remember when you’re talking about Cincinnati is their run game. In the last game, it went sort of under reportported and talked about that they ran the ball successfully against the Steeler defense, which opened up things and it made the Steelers sort of uh, you know, decide what they got to do because Chase Brown had 108 yards himself, 142 for the team. That has to stop just like the Steelers stopped Jonathan Taylor when he came here. Oh yeah. I I remember uh Cam Hayward vividly, you know, after that game against the Bengals about, you know, the gap integrity or lack thereof for that game. Um, and it did just feel like Chase Brown was able to do whatever he wanted to do on top of it. So, you weren’t making them one-dimensional. You weren’t able to really get after Flaka, which is something you would anticipate you could do with that defense. But, I think, you know, in turn, the Steelers defense has showed that they’ve put together some really good performances recently. Um, unlike the Bengals who three games of 500 plus yards that they have given up, uh, you know, just this season alone. And the game after the Bears that we’re watching here, we were just talking off air about, you know, you thought there’s no way the Bengals are going to end up losing this game. There’s no way. And sure enough, the Bears were able to come back and just the dismay in that Bengals locker room between what the offensive guys were saying and the defensive guys. And when your offense is getting asked about the other side of the ball and they’re not able to say something nice, you know that there’s uh some bad blood going on there and just some disbelief that how could you guys let us down when we got us to this point. So, we’ll have to see in terms of what they do coming off of their bye-week. Um, but as you said, you know, the main players and who are going to meet the guys that are going to be out there on Sunday when they they come to Pittsburgh. You even saw there on that clip that Caleb Williams was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass. So, they used a little Philly special. That’s happened twice to them this year where a non-quarterback threw a touchdown pass. Well, certainly uh you know that’s a situation the Steelers have got to work on. Uh trying to get more of time of possession. I think the best way to stop Joe Flacco and Lamar Jamar Chase is just keep them off the field, right? And that’s been a problem the Steelers have had, just if you do that and win a time of possession, you limit their possessions. That makes sense. And if you can do it, starting with a good run game this week against a team that’s given up a lot of rushing yards. I think that’s where it all starts with the Steelers. Absolutely. And I think, you know, the offense needs one of those get back games, get right games, whatever you want to call it, after the performance on Sunday in LA. All right, Steelers at five and four. Bengals three and six, but they’ve been knocking on the door competitive in a lot of games, but they’ve lost those games. We’ll talk more about this matchup coming up next. Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop this dealer’s 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. Uh like you just said, it doesn’t really matter how many plays are out there, how many times they run the ball, what personnel group they got. We got to we got calls, we have people for it, and we just got to execute. Um we’re out there 100 snaps plus. It doesn’t matter. We should be able to execute every single time. Um obviously there’s going to be a mistake made or two, but our energy, our passion, our effort just has to make up for that. Con and Allen were able to get a few on you guys over the middle. What kind of went in on those plays? And how do you guys have to defend the middle or field a little better on third down? Uh if we’re in our zone stuff, we just have to we just have to be weary. Uh playing a really good quarterback with some good receivers still have to be very very good in our zone drops and if we’re playing match coverage, people just got to be on the guy. Um I mean that’s pretty much that simple. So, is there a challenge when I mean obviously injuries and adversity is part of the game, but is there a challenge when you guys defensively continue to lose guys and there’s a lot of moving parts and moving pieces and just being able again going kind of back to that consistency? Um, no. I mean, we’re in the NFL. Everyone in this locker room can play can play at a high level. So, uh it’s really just next man up. Everyone in here I mean everybody has full faith and full belief in everyone. So when the next man’s up, we just have to we have to go and we have to just have to look at it like same people. And I mean, like I said, it’s the NFL. Everyone in here can make big plays and play at a high level. A lot of the guys in here talk about you’re going to play your best in November and December. Is this the kind of loss you can just like shower off and get back to what you played last year? Yeah, you can’t really just shower it off. Obviously, we have so much to film, to watch, and so much to get better from. But if you dwell on the past in this league, from what I’ve learned in the year and a half that I’ve been here, it’ll just carry over and carry over. So, we got to get better, but we also got to move on. Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about today. The crowd at There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my defense is swarming. It is picked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at AAR State. Here we go. they play a lot of zone uh or they’ve played a lot of zone particularly with their previous coordinator. Um and that’s why he’s had some big games against those guys. Um there’s no secret that that Muth has got very good zone awareness and he’s a zone killer. Um and and that’s why he’s had some of the games that he’s had against those guys. Yeah. Every now and then you find a team that a guy just plays well against no matter where they play. And Pat Fmouth against Cincinnati has been that guy against that team. He did it last year, did it earlier this year. In fact, all four of their touchdowns that Rogers threw in that first game were to tight end. So, I would expect them to target these guys a lot more in this game as well. Yeah, absolutely. And for Pat, it doesn’t even matter who the quarterback is for the Steelers. He’s had big games um against the Bengals especially, but I think also too, Darnell Washington so much more involved in the Steelers offense than week seven. Uh his his growth has continued to go and go in terms of how much they use him. Um, and as you said, two tight two touchdowns for Frier Muth in Cincinnati, one for Darnell and one for Johnny Smith. So, we’ll be interesting to see how they attack. Uh, especially, you know, the zone in the middle of the field this this time against the Bengals when they come to Pittsburgh. Yeah, he described him as a zone killer and that’s what Fri is smart enough to know to go where those holes in that zone are and certainly he he’ll be found and hit with passes and I would expect that to continue this week. Um, also want to talk about just the offensive line. We haven’t spent enough time. I think by and large over the season we’ve seen some guys grow. There have been an injury or two along the way. Uh, you know, hopefully Isaac say Maldo can play, but I think because he didn’t last week, they used that jumbo package quite a bit and that kind of limited their use of that package. You know, when you have an opportunity to just put a lot of help there and just follow it down the field. Uh, maybe they’ll get back to that as well in an attempt to control the ball more, right? because when, you know, they would come off the field, you had a way to play before you could go back in. It’s not like you can go from the, you know, extra eligible to going right back to the guard position. So, I do think it was, you know, they were trying to show, hey, we can mix this around a little bit, maybe keep the Chargers guessing. Um, but I do think if Isaac’s able to come back and coach did seem like they’re optimistic he will return, that’s huge because I think, you know, the combination of Spencer Anderson, Darnell Washington, and what they like to do there. Hopefully that springs the running game uh back into effect and Jaylen Warren can, you know, have a a day that he did similarly actually in Cincinnati that um game. I think he had 127 yards on the ground. So hopefully that’s something that they can take advantage of and as we keep talking about, you know, win the time of possession, keep the defense off the field. Yeah. And the other thing too is that you have a situation where you have a team that can be vulnerable to long drives. I was looking earlier and see that teams although they’re a quick strike ability uh that have gone against Cincinnati, they have also given up uh second most long drives over 70 yards. So I mean their defense is a big problem for them and and now that they don’t have a couple of the guys they really rely on uh as their edge rushers and they traded one to Dallas this week. I mean they they have holes all over this place. So, what do you think the the best way for the Steelers to attack it? Because I still want to see longer drives just to keep that other team off the field. I mean, run the ball. But I, you know, and I think for the Steelers offense, uh, it was a question at one point during that game on Sunday, are they going to score a touchdown? Um, and it kind of felt like for Roman Wilson, that was a touchdown that, you know, wasn’t going to make or break what happened in the game because of where they were at that point. Um, but I think just getting back to the continuity that we’re used to seeing from them. Um, even the performance they put on in this game against week seven, uh, not this game, but in Cincinnati, the week seven, Thursday night game. Um, it’s just something that I feel like they have to get back on the same page. Can’t have all of these mistakes, near misses, drops, whatever you want to call it. Um, they just have to be a more cohesive unit that’s able to play complimentary football and help play off of the the defense. And they certainly need guys like Calvin Austin to step up too. I know he had that we want to go through his hands right into the hands of Jackson last week, but I’m sure he’s wants another opportunity to uh redeem himself for that because he still needs to be a big part of this wide receiving team. They did not make an acquisition at the trade deadline. So he is number two and he’s got to be out there when they try to double team and that’s often DK Medaf, right? And I think too if they’re able to run the ball and utilize more of the tight ends because of that then and you know the tight ends can hopefully do well against their defense um maybe it alleviates a little bit of the pain of trying so much with the wide receivers but I still want to see DK Metaf more involved in this offense. He’s just one of those guys that you know sometimes he gets the ball and can go an extra 70 yards. So you want him to be involved and obviously people are going to double and triple team him but still something that they need to get uh I think fixed at this point of the season. And the one thing is Aaron Rogers did take ownership of what happened last week. That was not his best performance by far. Maybe one of the worst of his careers, but I think he’s the kind of guy who’s been through this a lot. So, you would expect a rebound from him as well. Oh, absolutely. And I think too, you know, not losing two in a row, then winning one, then losing one. You know, they don’t like having that um up and down roller coaster, which I understand Aaron has made clear he doesn’t ride the waves of a season, which is smart. Um, but I think they want to get back in the win column and stack some wins because it feels like it has been a long time actually that they’ve done that. All right, we’ll come back with some final thoughts about this match up. Bengals Steelers 1:00 uh Sunday at Acer and you’ll see it on KDK TV. We’ll be right back. Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about today. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my defense is swarming. It is picked off. What a catch. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. You know, to be able to uh have teams go away from that. We’re going to be able to beat that consistently. So, um, you know, they watch film just like as us and we got to be able to go out there and execute better on third down and be able to, you know, get open. Is there anything you can point to like early on in the season, first few games, you guys were like touchdowns, field goals every time on opening drives and three and out and again like can you put your finger on anything about a disconnect that’s going on there? Like I said, we just got to get the first first down of the drive and usually when we do that, like I said, we score points and so um you know, we got to be hyper focused on doing whatever it takes to get that first down and um you know, be able to go from there. Pat, in that same vein, sorry if you’ve already asked this as well, but just what was behind the third down struggles for you guys tonight? Um just being able to um you know, get open. Um probably the biggest thing. I mean, we know what they’re going to do and we just got to be able to execute better and that’s the the biggest thing. Um, you know, we have to look ourselves going forward is being able to um execute and get open for Aaron to be able to, you know, put the ball where it needs to be and get open on time. And so, um, we know what we have to do and um, you know, we there’s only thing we can do is go back to to work on Wednesday and and figure out a plan to, um, attack that and and beat that. 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. All right, we’re back with more here as we wrap it up. And Cincinnati had some time to rest this week, Missy. And so they had a buy a pretty good time for the buy and we’ll see what it means on Sunday. Yeah, for the Bengals, they’ve won three out of their last four games coming out of their by-week, but that one loss was actually last year. That’s when the Steelers were in Cincinnati. So hopefully they can uh keep that streak going. Real quick, in case you missed it, injury. Uh one more update for people who just tuned in. Yeah, sounds good for Isaac Seumalu who missed the game Sunday in LA. In terms of Scotty Miller with his finger injury, he’s cleared to participate in practice again. Jabril Peppers with a quad should be limited tomorrow. Darius Slays in the concussion protocol. We’ll have to keep an eye on that. And Cole Hulkcom is working his way back from an illness that’s caused him to miss two games. All right, Missy. Always fun. see on Sunday. And that’s going to be where the Bengals and Steelers do battle. And it’s a big one as the Steelers try to retain possession of first place. They have a oneame lead over the Ravens who’ve won three in a row. That’s going to do it for us. Thank you for joining us and we’ll see you again next week. Tuesday for another Tomlin Tuesday. For Missy Matthews, I’m Bob Pompiani. Have a good week.

Coach Tomlin addresses the media ahead of our Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

#CINvsPIT 11/16 at 1 PM ET on CBS

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