PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – After the fifth multi-score loss of the season, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said they are playing losing football and it starts with him.
Issues
· Tomlin's team was pushed around on defense, allowing 170 rushing yards, 88 to Trey Sermon, who was signed off the practice squad
· The offense mustered under 230 total yards.
· Promises to get the ball to George Pickens resulted in three receptions for 47 yards and Pickens not being able to come down with a 50-50 ball that was intercepted.
· Steelers rushed for under three yards a carry
· 8 penalties for 101 yards
· 4 of 12 on third-down
"We are playing losing football," Tomlin said. "I take responsibility for that. By losing football I mean that we are not doing fundamental things well enough. We are turning the ball over, highly penalized. We don't play good in situations."
It's not bad enough that Tomlin mentioned that, but the most damning statement from the Steelers head coach.
"I don't necessarily have the answers as we sit here today," Tomlin said.
"If I had the answers, we would have played differently today. I will acknowledge things will not continue the way they are."
So, what can that really mean, injuries have decimated the middle linebacker position. Minkah Fitzpatrick left with a knee injury and offensively none of their quarterbacks have performed. They can change up the offensive line, but have veteran guard/center Nate Herbig, but then seventh-rounder Spencer Anderson and undrafted tackle Dylan Cook as options. They don't have other receivers to bring in and they are trying to piece together an offensive game plan with multiple coaches after firing an ineffective offensive coordinator.
Tomlin said they are not going to keep doing the same things the way they have been doing it and hope for a different result.
It's a nice, press conference cliché, but what does it really mean?
He said everything is on the table, but the Steelers are heading into Week 16 currently in 11th place in the AFC.
"We are playing poorly, I don't know about the buy-in component," Tomlin said after being asked if the players aren't buying in. "We are not playing fundamentally well. When you are doing those things, you are not going to position yourselves to win football games."
Again, Tomlin admitted he doesn't have answers, but he promises to do things differently and come ready against the Bengals.
But will it really change anything?
