PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – After a couple of lousy defensive performances Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t expect major changes with the scheme they are running, rather they just need to perform better.
It doesn’t mean there won’t be alterations-Tomlin said he will retool at times ‘in an effort to get concepts, people or units going’. He pointed to the Packers field-flipping plays in the third quarter Sunday. How they didn’t smile in the face of adversity, a phrase Tomlin loves to utter. His players questioned their ability to deal with adversity not only after the game, but even after watching film Monday.
“We are certainly being critical of ourselves and using that as fuel as we prepare for our next opportunity,” Tomlin said.
So they acknowledge that they stunk for much of six of the last eight quarters. Tomlin said the environment around the team and at practice is correct. It’s about taking that work into a game.
“You can spend a lot of time talking about your ills, but the true fixes come in stadium,” Tomlin said. “That’s why sometimes I’m hesitant to respond to the ‘how do you fix it’ question. There are certainly procedurally things that you go about doing that fixes it, but the fix happens in stadium. The rest is just talk.”
There are no coaching changes coming, Tomlin even confirmed that directly about not taking over play-calling and indirectly, using the analogy that much like kids don’t always listen to their parents, players don’t always listen to coaches.
Several players also discussed a lack of fight with this team. The impression you get are guys backing down to a challenge or not trying hard enough. Tomlin said he doesn’t buy that explanation, he says the fight that is lacking, is fight in terms of play making.
“You don't get credit for trying hard,” Tomlin said. “We're not in the try hard business. Our fight is good production, and we didn't produce enough plays over the last 30 minutes of the game in any of the phases to secure victory.”
“We make no excuses about how or why we fall short. Our job is to perform and perform at a high level and we haven't done that. I'm excited about getting back to it. Seven games or whatever doesn't make a season. We certainly got more in front of us and more opportunities to write our story, whether it's individuals, a component of our team, whether it's our team in general. I think that's our general mindset.”
Sunday the Steelers try to correct their problems against the Colts. The team with the best record in the AFC. With the MVP of the league in tailback Jonathan Taylor, only 150 yards from 1,000 and 12 touchdowns, both leading the NFL. The Comeback Player of the Year, quarterback Daniel Jones, 5th in the NFL in passer rating, 4th in passing yards and completion percentage, 3rd in yards per attempt and sacked only nine times. And a balanced receiving corps-Michael Pittman 43 receptions, 446 yards, rookie tight end Tyler Warren 37-492 yards, Josh Downs 29 receptions, 256 yards, Taylor 25 receptions for 206 yards and Alex Pierce 18 receptions for 386 yards (21.4 average).
Tomlin and team will try to show their ‘true fixes’ against all of that.