Last Sunday's Steelers–Bills game was definitely a heated contest as players from both sides took some hefty penalties when tensions were high. Pittsburgh specifically had five big penalties given to them resulting in 67 yards lost.
Mike Tomlin told media on Tuesday that he addressed some of the inappropriate moments with his team on Monday, including an intense moment between Cam Heyward and Josh Allen, expressing to his squad how he wants to see improvement on where their passion goes. Of course the team wants to win, but the Steelers struggled with their emotions a bit during Sunday’s 26–7 loss.
“Frustration became a component of it, which is a natural thing,” Tomlin said. “We want to win, we want to do what’s required to win, but we didn’t necessarily express that want appropriately. We kind of talked about that some yesterday as a collective.”
However, Tomlin also came to the defense of his team as he wants the Steelers to be passionate in games, but they need to start going about it in better ways moving forward so they don’t receive more costly penalties.
“I never want people to apologize for caring. I view the frustration displayed last year that way. Guys were in fight mode. … They didn’t necessarily express it appropriately. But also, how do we move on from that?”
Tomlin is heading into Week 14 on the hot seat, something he’s not used to being in during his 19 seasons in Pittsburgh. Steelers fans are tired of losing this season, and Tomlin is too. We’ll see what the Steelers can do in the final five weeks of the regular season—the team currently sits in the hunt in the playoff picture after Sunday’s loss. The AFC North bid is still up for grabs, though, as the 6–6 Ravens hold onto it for now.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mike Tomlin Addresses Steelers’ Frustrations After Rough Loss to Bills.
