Tomlin will not do the math
Steelers coach pays little heed to playoff scenarios.
Mike Tomlin PITTSBURGH— is well aware of the math. He’s pretty sure his players are too.
Just don’t expect the Pittsburgh Steelers coach to start talking about what needs to happen for his team to clinch a playoff spot this weekend. Last he checked, that wasn’t part of his job description.
“By all means have it, discuss (the scenarios),” Tomlin said Tuesday. “But nothing changes our mentality in terms of where we are and what we need to be focused on.”
A win in Baltimore against the Ravens and a loss by the New York Jets to New England would assure Pittsburgh (9-5) a spot in the postseason for the second straight year and the sixth time in Tomlin’s nine seasons on the sideline.
Tomlin’s success tends to follow a familiar pattern: the Steelers have issues coming out of the gate only to get it together when the temperatures dip and the pressure mounts.
Pittsburgh is 28-12 in regular-season games played Dec. 1 or later under Tomlin. The Steelers have won 10 straight games in December, tied with Carolina for the league’s longest active streak.
The arrow, as Tomlin likes to say, is pointing up. Even if he doesn’t want to get into details. Pressed on how his team has improved since a 23-20 overtime home loss to Baltimore on Oct. 1 and he gives the equivalent of a verbal shoulder shrug.
“It’s just the naturalmaturation process of a group, individually and collectively over the course of the season,” Tomlin said. “That was Week 4. We’re now in the thick of this thing.”
They appear to be a very real threat in amuddled AFC. Denver, Cincinnati, Houston and Indianapolis have quarterback issues. Kansas City is the hottest teamin the league not named Carolina, though its current eightgame run includes a win over the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger.
The Patriots are the Patriots, but have taken to signing 32-year-old running backs to have someone to line up next to Tom Brady.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, just completed a stretch that looked daunting on paper in August, but not somuch on the field in late fall.
The Steelers beat Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Denver — all division leaders at the time — by an average of 19 points. Facing backup quarterbacks in all three games helped.
Then again, Matt Hasselbeck, AJMcCarron and Brock Osweiler had nothing to do with how the defenses of their respective teams played.
Pittsburgh ripped through the Colts, kept the Bengals off balance and hurt the “No Fly Zone” for 380 yards passing while putting together the largest home rally in 18 years against the Broncos.
Pittsburgh has topped 30 points in six consecutive games for the first time in the franchise’s 82-year history. The Steelers have scored in 21 consecutive quarters and appear to be getting better as the weeks pass.