Mike Tomlin's Bold Statement After Steelers' Loss: 'We Don’t Deserve To Win'
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Chicago Bears on Sunday by a score of 31-28. The loss put Pittsburgh at 6-5 through 11 games and knocks the franchise out of first place in the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens won their game against the New York Jets and have moved into first place in the division, and as things currently stand, the Steelers are out of the playoffs if the regular season were to end today. Pittsburgh made mistakes in all three phases of the game in Chicago, and ultimately the team could not pull off a comeback in the fourth quarter.
There were multiple instances in the game against Chicago where Pittsburgh made some sort of mistake. The offense turned the ball over twice, special teams struggled, and the defense could not get the Bears offense off of the field. There was not one phase of the game that the Steelers won over Chicago.
The Bears did great when it came to converting first downs, while the Steelers turned the ball over on downs twice. The first instance came in the first half, where Pittsburgh failed to convert a fourth and one rather than kicking a field goal to take a 10 point lead. Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about this decision during his post game press conference, and why he chose not to take the three points.
"Because if you can't make it on fourth down and one man; often times you don't deserve to win." Tomlin said.
The instance being referred to was in the second quarterback of the game as the Steelers had a seven point lead. Pittsburgh had the ball at Chicago's 30-yard line, and it was fourth and one. The Steelers lined up with Connor Heyward under center as the offense was doing its version of the "tush push".
The play did not work as Heyward was stuffed and was not granted the line to gain on his second effort. The play resulted in a turnover on downs, and Chicago went on to tie the game up with a touchdown.
The play seemed dysfunctional for the Steelers as Heyward did not seem to give much of an effort after receiving the ball from the center. Kenneth Gainwell lines up behind Heyward to his side on this play, and the two were seen on the broadcast having a heated discussion after the play as they walked off of the field. Pittsburgh ran the same play
On the fake Pittsburgh ran, Heyward turned around quickly and gave the ball to Gainwell. Their heated discussion after the failed version of the "Tush Push" along with the lack of an initial effort from Heyward suggests that the fake might have been what was supposed to happen the first time around. A miscommunication may have occurred, but Tomlin still believes his team didn't deserve to win the game if his offense couldn't gain one yard in a high pressure situation.
Steelers Did Not Deserve To Win In Chicago
Pittsburgh struggled in every facet of the game on Sunday, and the group did not deserve to win despite a near game-winning drive to end the game. Pittsburgh turned the ball over twice, and each turnover resulted in points for Chicago.
The offense put the defense in tough situations, and the defense could not get the opposing offense off of the field. Special teams was also an area that caused some trouble as Chicago was consistently able to return the ball out to around the 30-yard line, while Pittsburgh was often stuck with their drives starting around the 20.
Patriots Defense Made Key Adjustment to Beat Joe Flacco, Bengals
Facing a Cincinnati Bengals team without injured quarterback Joe Burrow and suspended star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase should’ve been a chance for the New England Patriots to feast on defense, but instead the unit needed to make a key adjustment to hold veteran backup Joe Flacco at bay late in Week 12’s 26-20 win on the road.
The adjustment was made on the final drive at Paycor Stadium, when the Patriots finally sent extra rushers after 40-year-old Flacco. As Next Gen Stats, via NFL Pro revealed, “The Patriots did not blitz until the final Bengals drive, in which they blitzed four times, with Joe Flacco completing just 1 of 4 passes (12 yards) against the blitz. Despite their low blitz rate (10.3%, their 2nd-lowest this season), the Patriots still generated pressure on 41.0% of their pass rushes.”
Sending the blitz proved worth the risk when the Pats sent “the house on 4th & 10, K’Lavon Chaisson gets a hit on the QB, and Marcus Jones breaks up the throw to Mike Gesicki,” per Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS.
The telling contribution by Jones capped a clutch performance from the nickelback, who also scored on a pick-six to help dig the Patriots out of an early hole. Jones’ theft was the result of cleverly disguised coverage, making this game a strong endorsement of the defensive staff led by stand-in coordinator Zak Kuhr.
Patriots Needed Sophisticated Defense
A rare dismal showing from QB1 Drake Maye left the Patriots needing to lean on their defense in Cincinnati. Fortunately, Kuhr had a nuanced plan based around sophisticated coverage concepts and pressure packages.
The layers of disguise in their coverage showed up most effectively when Jones picked off Flacco and went to the house in the second quarter. It happened because “on their first pick-six since the 2023 season (Kyle Dugger vs. Miami), New England plays the early down in quarters coverage with a four-deep, three-under zone coverage,” according to Patriots.com Staff Writer Evan Lazar.
This coverage design fooled Flacco, who saw “the deep-zone coverage taking away his downfield routes, and thinks he’s just going to harmlessly check it down into the flat to RB Tahj Brooks. Instead, NCB Marcus Jones was baiting Flacco to throw the check-down the entire time, and jumped the flat for a 33-yard pick-six that was a sweet, sweet play by Jones.”
Changing the picture on the back end was necessary to keep a battle-tested veteran with Flacco’s level of experience guessing. Yet for all the rotations in the secondary, the Patriots still needed a more direct approach to seal the win.
Zak Kuhr Adjusted Core Plan in Key Moment
When Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel hired Terrell Williams to be his defensive coordinator, he hoped for a defense based on getting pressure with only four rushers. Williams has taken a leave of absence to deal with health problems, but Kuhr has mostly stuck to the same blueprint, at least until the waning moments against the Bengals.
That’s when Kuhr pushed the blitz button to great effect. His more aggressive approach worked to unleash edge-rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, while also helping fellow edge Harold Landry III notch the Patriots’ only sack.
Registering just a single sack shows the Patriots still have a problem getting to quarterbacks often enough. The defense has recorded a mere 23 QB takedowns, per Pro Football Reference, because there isn’t a bluechip pass-rusher in the lineup.
It means Kuhr will be wise to continue drawing up elaborate ways to send additional rushers to wreck the pocket. Blitzing can offset the absence of elite talent on the edges, while it will also help the defense compensate for any further below-par days from Maye and the offense.
