Packers 35, Steelers 25
MIKE TOMLIN: Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers a victorious performance. From us, we just simply have to get a lot better in a lot of areas, in all areas, but some really specific areas that are critical to winning. We can't settle for field goals versus good people, and that was kind of an issue throughout.
We got behind the chains somewhat, so we got into scoring territory, be it a penalty or a lost yardage first play on first down, and it was uphill from there, and we settled for field goals too often. You're just not going to win close ball games, man, when you're doing that.
I thought we were highly penalized for the second week in a row. It hadn't been us, but it is us. So we certainly got to address that, and we will.
Then we're not winning enough possession downs on defense. We're simply not. I thought the two third-down conversions on the third quarter, field-flipping type plays, were significant plays. They were catalysts for drive engineering, the two touchdown drives, whatever, in the third quarter.
I thought we had them in advantageous third-down circumstances for us, man, and they converted. Not only do they convert, but they had chunk plays. You're not going to win football games like that.
So we got a big game coming up here in a short period of time. We got to get in and look at this, man, and make the necessary adjustments and alterations to what it is that we're doing and the effort to change the outcome of this thing.
From a health standpoint, it looks like we got a couple of significant ones. Daniel has got a significant knee injury. DeShon Elliott has a knee injury as well. Isaac Seumalo has a pec strain. It's what comes with playing, obviously. We'll assess those. I'll have a better update for you the next time we come together.
Questions.
Q. Where was Love hurting you in the second half?
MIKE TOMLIN: I thought their tight end was significant. His run after, we talked about it during the week. We didn't do a good enough job of minimizing that. That probably was the catalyst of it.
That field-flipping play on third down, we laid the ball up to him. He made a catch and run. I thought was a significant component of the texture of the second half.
Q. Yourselves on offense, where could you have been better on third downs tonight?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, I thought we got behind the chains, and when you get behind the chains, man, you're not in advantageous circumstance. It's a challenge with their rush and some of the rush people that they have. You got to protect it. You got to go downfield, and that was challenging.
The best course of action is to stay on schedule, and he weren't on schedule enough, particularly in the second half.
Q. The defensive problems that you've had repeatedly, is it rooted in the scheme or in the execution of the scheme?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, we all have to own it. Certainly you start with the schematics, man, because that's the leadership component of it, and certainly we'll be looking at everything that we're doing, man, because some of these problems are somewhat repetitive. We're not getting better fast enough.
Q. What's missing in the execution?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, again, I'm not going to talk too much tonight. We'll take a look at it, as I mentioned. They made some significant plays on possession down ball, and you know, you got to get off on third down, and we didn't do it well enough. Particularly in the third quarter, there were some significant ones.
Q. It was the second week in a row you gave up a bunch of easy completions. It was the slant against Cincinnati and the flats. Is that a case of you try to fix something and then something else pops up against you?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, I'm not worried about the flat throws. The flat throws didn't produce 300-plus yards passing. It's those chunk plays.
Q. You guys assembled a secondary with the hopes that you have several different coverages... man, zone. Between miscommunications and losing (indiscernible), what do you guys have to do better to get the potential that you saw?
MIKE TOMLIN: We just got to be better in all areas, and it starts first with the positions that we put players in. So it's coaches, it's players, it's as all of us. We own it. We'll be better. We have to be.
Q. You guys came out and were winning third down a lot early on in this game, and then things flipped. What do you think led to the collective breakdown?
MIKE TOMLIN: As I mentioned, those third downs in the third quarter that I outlined in my opening statement. I can repeat it for you if you want.
Q. Did you get an explanation on the off sides call that wasn't called?
MIKE TOMLIN: It's irrelevant, because you can't get it back. I thought it was an error, but you can't get it back. Explanations mean very little.
Q. Would you consider a change in the secondary at all?
MIKE TOMLIN: I'm open to doing whatever it is that we need to do schematically or from a personnel standpoint to improve this, certainly.
Q. What's your reaction to two post-play personal fouls in the second half?
MIKE TOMLIN: It's not our style of business, and we can't live like that.
Q. What do you guys have to do to get the pass rush home more often?
MIKE TOMLIN: I'll take a look at it. I just don't have a knee-jerk response to that question specifically, because very rarely do these things happen in a vacuum. It's all somewhat interrelated.
Q. Averaged almost five yards a carry in the first half. Had that nine-point lead with getting the ball. What was the decision leading away from the run and going three carries in the second half?
MIKE TOMLIN: It wasn't necessarily a decision to do so. We just were behind the sticks, and the game circumstances got away from us.
Q. Is there anything Green Bay did differently first half versus the second half?
MIKE TOMLIN: With respect to them, they won the game, but our issues are us. You know, that's just the approach and mentality that we have. We own the outcome of our performances, and there's certainly a lot of things that we could do better. Not taking anything away from Green Bay.
Q. When you give up 100-some yards to YAC to a tight end, is that indicative of issues rallying to the ball, tackling down field, things like that?
MIKE TOMLIN: It would appear so, but as we mentioned at the top of the week, man, I thought this guy was an elite run-after guy. I told you guys that on Tuesday, and he proved that.
Q. What was your message to the team in the locker room?
MIKE TOMLIN: I said, man, you know, it's not a lot to talk about. We got to get better. We got to bet better in a hurry. So we say very little when we win. We say less when we lose. It's all about getting back in the lab and getting better.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports