The Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-1 after two games, but their start has raised far more questions than answers. Following a disappointing 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots, the offense has struggled to establish an identity, and former head coach Mike Tomlin believes Pittsburgh cannot afford to simply wait for everything to fix itself.
Tomlin had already identified several problems with the Steelers during his appearance on NBC’s Football Night in America. Pittsburgh has struggled to establish the run, has not converted third downs consistently and has failed to create explosive plays, while the offensive line has also been unable to provide the level of blocking needed to make the offense function. Against New England, the Steelers finished with only 235 total yards and converted just 2 of 12 third downs.
Now, speaking with Chris Simms on the Unbuttoned podcast, Tomlin explained how he would approach the situation if he were still running the team. Rather than trying to solve every weakness simultaneously, the former Steelers coach believes the organization needs to pick an area, attack it during the week and make sure the game plan reflects that commitment.
Mike Tomlin wants Steelers to pick a problem and attack it
Mike Tomlin specifically pointed to the trenches as the place where Mike McCarthy should begin to change things. “The first place I would start is in the trenches. They’re struggling to run the ball with a level of consistency. They’re not converting third downs at a high enough rate. They’re not hitting chunk plays in the passing game. You can’t fix all of that, and you particularly can’t fix all of that in a weekend.”
Then, Tomlin explained how the Steelers could structure their Bengals week. “It might be a week where you double down on your padded practices to send a message. An action message to back those words up. So, it’s not only the messaging, it’s in-week action, and then the structuring of game plans. When you come to those forks in the road, the first 15 has got to be run heavy. The short yardage and goal line circumstances got to be meat and potatoes. Either we’re going to do it or we’re going to not do it. But we’re not taking our foot off the gas.”
The challenge for Pittsburgh is that these problems are interconnected. The Steelers managed only 81 rushing yards against New England, while Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times, and the offense converted just two of its 12 third-down opportunities.
Tomlin’s point is that the Steelers do not necessarily need to solve every issue immediately, but they do need to establish one area where the offense can become dependable. Against a 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals team in Week 3, that focus could become particularly important as Pittsburgh tries to turn a concerning offensive start into something more sustainable.
