Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Delivers Powerful "December Football" Message to Steeler Nation Ahead of Week 14 vs Ravens

Following the Pittsburgh Steelers' gutsy win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, 19-16, Head Coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media on Tuesday, full of more quotable Tomlinisms and a stern focus on now what is Week 14 of the 2022 NFL regular season. The division rival, Baltimore Ravens will visit Acrisure Stadium and they'll be without their star quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Jackson injured his PCL in the Ravens' Week 13 matchup against the Denver Broncos, and will miss 1-3 weeks. With so much on the line with each divisional game, a win over the current AFC North division leaders could be a turning point for Pittsburgh in the standings.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin before a regular season game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)

In Tomlin's Tuesday presser, the veteran head coach fielded questions about Kenny Pickett, George Pickens, the possibility of playing against Tyler Huntley and more, but ESPN's Brooke Pryor dug into Tomlin's history with December football, and what it means moving forward as the team finishes out the regular season. Coach Tomlin was excited and shared that sentiment back in his answer:

Pryor: "Mike, in the way that you were excited at the beginning of training camp, you said like, you were ready to 'blow water,' 'put your mouthpiece in there,' etc. What is it about December football that it seems like you get rejuvenated or get another boost... level up?"

Tomlin: "Man, as the road gets narrow. It makes you, or it breaks you. You feel that pressure, or you apply that pressure. It's my preference to apply it. And it's my job to make sure our team shares that sentiment."

With the victory over the Falcons, Pittsburgh became the first team to reach 500 wins since the NFL-AFL merger. A lot of that success can be attributed to Tomlin, especially his success in December. Take 2007-2017 for example; Tomlin had a December win percentage of .702, going 33-14 in the process. From 2018-2020 however, it dropped to a .385 win percentage, going just 5-8 in that time span.

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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin looks on before a preseason game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)

Tomlin's biggest criticism from Steeler Nation over the last decade has been his lack of playoff wins and the 15-year lead man in Pittsburgh is well aware that it all starts in the last month of the year, every year. Getting hot at the right time, staying healthy, and as he mentioned, applying the pressure. The question for Tomlin is will he be able to experience the success he saw early in his career, or did the team's slow start in 2022 inevitably make a successful December run all for not.

What do yinz think of Tomlin's comments? Do you think the head coach has the Steelers ready for December football? With the team's strength of schedule, is it possible that Pittsburgh can win out? Make sure to click to comment below, or hit us up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

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