A week ago, Mike Tomlin was very pleased with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ performance in the preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, only days later after a 17-14 loss to the Buccaneers in their second preseason matchup, the head coach was no longer as satisfied with what he saw at Acrisure Stadium.
Tomlin warned his players that so many mistakes in a game could be very costly starting in Week 1 when the Steelers face the Jets. “You turn the ball over, you’re going to reduce your chances of winning. I thought we stalled a lot of drives offensively with penalties that put us behind the sticks and put us in a less than advantageous possession downs. I think we were 0-5 say at the half as an example of that. We got a penalty, roughing the kicker, where they were settling for three and we put them back on the field and they eventually got a touchdown. You lose games when things like that happen.”
The Steelers have not used stars like Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf or TJ Watt in the preseason, but other starters have seen action. So, the number of penalties is a factor the coaching staff will have to polish as soon as possible.
Mike Tomlin Sends Strong Warning to Steelers About Costly Mistakes
Mike Tomlin was clear that a preseason result does not define absolutely anything, but he did stress that this has to serve as a learning experience for the entire roster heading into the start of the 2025 season.
“You know, there’s nothing really mystical at all about the outcome of games. We determine how games unfold. Taking nothing away from the Bucs. We’ve had a couple of good days of work with those guys. Respect coach Bowles and their program, but it was self-inflicted wounds for us tonight that determined the outcome of the game. We lost leverage in the red zone and some passes there early on allowed them to score seven, and we’ve got to make people settle for three on the short field. We spend too much time working in the short field. We understand how important leverage is in that space, but we didn’t execute it. So, there will be a lot to learn obviously from this game because of that.”