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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin detailed the keys of the AFC wild card matchup against the Houston Texans.
Head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be trying to end a six-game losing streak in the NFL playoffs Monday night against the Houston Texans. But the postseason pressure in primetime isn’t going to change Tomlin’s coaching philosophy.
The Steelers head coach made that clear during his last lengthy interview before the matchup with Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola.
Tomlin mostly addressed the NFL playoffs from a general sense in the Q&A. But when providing more details about how the Steelers can upset the Texans in the AFC wild card round, the head coach stressed turnovers along with the offensive and defensive lines.
“The No. 1 thing that stands out about this Texans collective is that they’re No. 2 in the league in ball security offensively, and they’re No. 3 at taking the ball away defensively. They’ve got 29 takeaways, and so when you’re taking care of the football and you’re taking it away, you’re positioning yourself to win a lot of football games. We have a similar profile,” Tomlin told Labriola. “We’re tied-for-third in ball security on offense and No. 4 in taking it away. And so it’s two trains on the track. We’ve been able to win four out of our last five. They’ve won nine in a row.
“Generally, there’s a turnover component to those discussions when you’re stacking wins. And so that’s going to be a critical component of this game, and probably a lot of games … We better preserve and protect the football. And we certainly better take it away. But I’m sure that’s their agenda as well.”
Dave Holcomb is a sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including FanSided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb
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