PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Some use the phrase 'clean slate', some said it's everyone starting 0-0, another remembered back to a road-trip filled Super Bowl XL championship. What the Steelers are saying about somehow finding a better game as the playoffs begin Saturday in Baltimore.
"I think the best thing we can do is get ready for the playoffs," said Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson of moving forward. "It's a new season. That's the only thing that really matters anymore at this point, right?"
That's a good attitude to have to forget about what has happened. He is right, none of that matters right now, although his head coach said you just can't forget it all or be doomed to repeat it.
"I don't know that you go clean slate," Tomlin said. "You better learn from these lessons, you know what I mean? We're a mentally tough group. It's okay to learn from these lessons and remember the things that created this. Nothing mystical about it. That's going to be my mentality and I'm going to relate that to the guys as we move into next week."
There are still isses on both sides of the ball, although the defense had its best game since the win over Baltimore. They held Joe Burrow to only one touchdown and that was on the opening drive. After they seemed to settle in for the most part, even three of the points were a gift due to the offense not converting a third and then fourth-and-one. Burrow had three points or more in eight straight games, maybe it is something they can use moving forward,
Offensively, even though they had a strong fourth quarter against Cincinnati, it was mostly the same old thing. The 10 points in the fourth matched the 10 they had scored in the combined second halves of the last three games. They weren't consistent against a team that for most of the season has been a bottom-feeder defense.
Wilson said again they just have to forget that. He believes they haven't played that poorly, even had chances in the Eagles game. A 13-year veteran and Super Bowl champ, Wilson said he's been in the playoffs a bunch and believes the truth is it doesn't matter what you've done in the regular season-whether coming in hot or coming in on four straight losses.
How will this team respond?
"Important thing for us is having the right perspective, figuring out what we can do better as a collective group, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to respond," Wilson said. "It's going to be heavyweight fight. We with got to go in with the right attitude and mentality."
"You know, nobody is going to make it easy for us, but I like us versus anybody," said captain Cam Heyward. "You can say I'm blowing smoke, but I do. And I like the group. It's about ironing out our mistakes and cleaning it up yesterday."
Heyward said they can do that by harping on turnovers, get back to three-and-outs. Play complementary football in all three phases because that's where you thrive. The 35-year-old said they don't remember your record once you start the postseason.
"We can reset for sure," said tight end Pat Freiermuth. "Whatever happened in the regular season, happened in the regular season. We just need to focus on the playoffs now."
"We got to flush this and we just got to know that the next opportunity is do or die now," said linebacker Alex HIghsmith. "Of course, we didn't end the season the way we wanted to. We just got to flush it and move on."
"Next week is 0-0, it's win or go home," said linebacker Patrick Queen. "All of that seeding and all that stuff don't matter. Home field advantage don't matter. It's win or go home."
It was like that in the 2005 season, Steelers went into the playoffs at the sixth seed, at the time only six teams from each conference got in the postseason. They would begin on the road at Cincinnati, then at Payton Manning and the Colts-who had pounded them previously and then in Denver, where they hadn't won in 16 previous years.
Wilson talked to one of the leaders of that team, Jerome Bettis, Saturday morning to get some perspective about that run. It should be pointed out the Steelers won every game in December in 2005 to qualify for the postseason, so they were heading in as one of the hottest teams in the league. But, Wilson said what he learned from the Hall of Famer was this week is the only week that matters.
"That team overcame a lot of obstacles," Wilson said. "That team was able to respond the right way. I believe that's who we're going to be. I have no doubt about the guys in our locker room and obviously Coach Tomlin, who he is. We got the right response and got to make that response a good one."
"You know, we get to control that. We get to control our approach, and the great thing is we get another opportunity to put on our pads and go out and play. The only thing that matters is we win the next one."
