Mike Tomlin pulled out all his catchy phrases on Tuesday to describe the late-season journey on which the Steelers have embarked and the sense of urgency his team faces with five games remaining.
Sitting with a 5-7 record and tied for last place in the AFC North, Tomlin said, “The sand is running through the hourglass for us making a case for ourselves.”
The Steelers have won three of their past four games and are coming off back-to-back victories for the first time this season, but he said, “We can’t wear our hands out patting ourselves on the back.”
Tomlin did not dust off the “we will unleash hell in December” quote he uttered in 2009, and good thing: In the past five seasons, the Steelers are a combined 9-11 in December. But he pointed out the importance of making game-deciding plays in the closing minutes this time of year, as the Steelers did in their 19-16 victory in Atlanta that got the month off to a good start.
It is especially true for a team that has scored more than 20 points in regulation just twice in 12 games and has been involved in six games decided by six points or fewer. If the Steelers have an identity, it’s that they are going to be involved in a lot of one-possession games.
“That’s a signature of December football,” Tomlin said at his weekly press conference. “The NFL is comprised of one-score games, and so often your ability to make plays down the stretch determines the outcome of games.
“That’s what you have to do in December. That’s what you have to do as the road gets narrow. Anyone who is committed to winning in December better develop an appetite for that.”
The Steelers haven’t had a winning record in December since 2017, but they have a chance to make it 2-0 when they play the Baltimore Ravens (8-4) minus Lamar Jackson on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
Jackson, who has missed a number of games against the Steelers because of injuries, sustained a sprained posterior cruciate ligament against the Denver Broncos and is expected to be out between one and three weeks.
The Ravens are the only team with a winning record remaining on the Steelers’ schedule, though the teams meet twice in the next four weeks. But, even with Jackson, the Ravens have struggled the past three games, losing to Jacksonville and squeaking past the Broncos (10-9) and Carolina Panthers (13-3).
“You grow and understand what you’re capable of, individually and collectively, when you have success,” Tomlin said, referring to winning close games in December. “It’s a setback and it’s more hurdles when you don’t.”
‘I want that guy’
Tomlin said the team is working with rookie receiver George Pickens on how to handle his frustration in an “appropriate, mature and professional” manner and not with the expletive outburst he displayed in Atlanta.
But he would not condemn Pickens, who had one catch for 2 yards against the Falcons, for wanting the ball more.
“I want a guy that wants to be a significant part of what it is we do,” Tomlin said. “That competitive spirit, the guy who wants the ball, I want that guy.
“We got competitors. This is professional football. These guys know they have to deliver. For a guy who wants to do that, I’m not going to make that a negative, no matter how silly I think the commentary is and people trying to make it a negative storyline. I laugh at that. That’s one of the reasons why we’re continually progressing because we’re capable of tuning that B.S. out.”
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
First Published: December 6, 2022, 9:41 p.m.
