PITTSBURGH — After surrendering at the least 30 factors for the fourth time in seven video games, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin defended defensive coordinator Teryl Austin on Tuesday.
“I’ve identified Teryl a very long time,” Tomlin stated. “He’s very succesful. He’s very thorough. I’ve largely been happy together with his work, however actually he and I are usually not happy with the place we’re proper now from a defensive unit perspective and so we’re simply going to maintain working.”
Tomlin additionally stated he’s not taking up sole defensive playcalling duties after the 35-25 loss to the Inexperienced Bay Packers on Sunday evening.
“That’s not on the desk as we sit right here at this time,” Tomlin stated. “We simply received to maintain doing what we’re doing and do it higher.”
Regardless of preseason declarations from Tomlin that the Steelers’ protection might do “historic issues,” the highest-paid unit within the league has repeatedly fallen in need of expectations.
Not solely did they permit a season-high 360 passing yards, three landing strikes and a streak of 20 consecutive completions from Packers quarterback Jordan Love on Sunday, however 4 consecutive quarterbacks — Love, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Carson Wentz — have produced season-high yardage totals in opposition to Pittsburgh’s protection.
Now the Steelers enter a Week 9 matchup in opposition to a 7-1 Indianapolis Colts workforce with the NFL’s most prolific offense, which is averaging a league-leading 33.8 factors and 385.3 yards per recreation. In the meantime, the Steelers rank thirty second in passing yards per recreation (273.3), thirtieth in complete yards allowed (386), twenty fourth in third-down conversion proportion (41.84%) and twenty second in factors per recreation (25.0).
“We make no excuses about how or why we fall quick,” Tomlin stated. “Our job is to carry out at a excessive degree, and we haven’t executed that. … Seven video games or no matter doesn’t make a season. We actually received extra in entrance of us and extra alternatives to jot down our story, whether or not it’s people, whether or not it’s a element of our workforce or whether or not it’s our workforce generally. I feel that’s our basic mindset.”
The Steelers can even be with out beginning robust security DeShon Elliott, who hyperextended his knee within the second half of Sunday’s loss and is “week-to-week.” To switch him, the Steelers are understanding a number of veteran safeties, Tomlin stated, together with Vonn Bell and Eddie Jackson. The workforce additionally signed hard-hitting security Jabrill Peppers earlier within the season when Elliott was sidelined with one other knee damage.
Tomlin additionally didn’t rule out exploring the commerce marketplace for choices.
“We’re at all times open for enterprise, notably as we get near the commerce deadline,” Tomlin stated. “We’re at all times consumers.”
The Steelers have been profitable in shutting down the Packers within the first half of Sunday evening’s loss, maintaining Love and the offense from changing any of their 4 third downs because the Steelers constructed a 16-7 halftime lead. Within the second half, nonetheless, the Packers transformed 5 of 8 alternatives, together with a 59-yard completion to tight finish Tucker Kraft and a 33-yard completion to Christian Watson — each within the third quarter.
“I didn’t assume we did a adequate job recovering from that and discovering our footing as a collective soccer group — offense, protection and particular groups — within the effort to make the mandatory performs over the course of the final quarter-hour to win the sport,” Tomlin stated.
Quite a few gamers stated the poor play within the second half snowballed and affected effort and attitudes late within the recreation.
“If I’m being fully sincere, I don’t really feel like the hassle was there,” security Juan Thornhill stated Monday, including that the defensive unit has been addressing that problem brazenly this week. “We received to have that dialog. We received to let all people know that effort shouldn’t be one thing that we needs to be taking note of. You at all times have to play laborious.”
Tomlin stated he didn’t see a “lack of combat” on the sport movie because it associated to effort.
“I’m speaking about combat when it comes to playmaking,” Tomlin stated. “You don’t get credit score for making an attempt laborious. We’re not within the ‘attempt laborious’ enterprise. Our combat is about manufacturing and producing and we actually didn’t produce sufficient performs over the past half-hour of the sport, notably in any of the phases to safe victory.”
Tomlin stated many of the points on protection can’t actually be resolved till the workforce takes the sector at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday.
“You may spend quite a lot of time speaking about your ills, however the true fixes are available stadiums,” Tomlin stated. “… There’s actually procedurally issues that you just go about doing that fixes it, however the repair occurs in stadiums and the remainder of it’s simply discuss.”
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