The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday after safety Minkah Fitzpatrick ended all hopes of a Falcons comeback with his 4th interception of the season. The win marked the first time all season that the Steelers won back-to-back games. But it wasn't the game that caught the eye of fans this weekend.
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin talks with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick during an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 13, 2020, in Orchard Park, N.Y.AP Photo/Adrian Kraus
With the Steelers leading 16-6 at the mid-point, head coach Mike Tomlin was walking to the locker room to meet with his team when a fan yelled in the direction of Tomlin to 'go for the win' and gave him a thumbs up. It was the surprising response from Tomlin that has caused the video to go viral:
"Man I'm ****ing working!" Tomlin yelled while looking at the fan.
Isn’t halftime technically a break from work? @Tomlin_Sense pic.twitter.com/dnY8lxb7O2
— Fernando Perez (@PherPerez) December 4, 2022
To be frank, the response from Tomlin seemed very uncharacteristic. Tomlin is usually calm cool and collected during games, often showing no emotion on the sidelines. His players always say that Tomlin keeps his emotions in check until they're behind closed doors. That's when he rips into them. But on the sideline, Tomlin always remains stone faced nearly 100% of the time.
The response has had some mixed opinions, but it's more positive than it is negative with a quick look through the comments. The video caught the eye of many big names including Pittsburgh native, and popular podcast host, Pat McAfee.
"Hahahaha mannn…I ****ing LOVE Mike Tomlin.. LOCKED IN," McAfee tweeted on Sunday.
The video also was posted to Barstool Sports.
"Don’t talk to Mike Tomlin when he’s working. You have been warned," they captioned their post.
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09: Head Coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cameron Heyward #97 of the Pittsburgh Steelers walk off the field prior to a game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on October 09, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)
But not everyone loved what Tomlin did. WTAE-TV's meteorologist, Jeff Verszyla didn't think it was an appropriate response and believed Tomlin should have taken a much different approach:
"Maybe I’m old and out of touch? But, this Steelers supporter gives an innocent thumbs up and 'let’s get a win' …and he gets a rude, dismissive and vulgar response?A simple thumbs up or 'here we go' would have been better, imo."
Some other fans like this one seemed to agree with Verszyla.
This is a classless act by Mike Tomlin! If this is the standard then he is setting a poor standard in Pittsburgh. He owes this fan an apology and the Steelers organization needs to do right by this fan!
— J-Long (@JLong35754) December 5, 2022
If you're a Steelers fan, you have to at least love the passion displayed by Tomlin. You also have to be a little concerned, because after halftime, the Steelers nearly blew another 13-point lead. On Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers jumped out to a dominating early lead, but it quickly evaporated in the third quarter. Pittsburgh was able to hold on late and win Monday, as they did against the Falcons on Sunday.
Credit: Chris Adamski/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
It wasn't a pretty second half for Pittsburgh however in Atlanta. They managed to get only 3 points and weren't able to run the clock out late in the fourth quarter. Instead, they were forced to punt the ball back to the Falcons allowing them a chance to tie it. Second half adjustments have been an issue at different points in Tomlin's career. A lot of the blame could be placed on Matt Canada's inept ability to be the team's offensive coordinator. By halftime, the opposing team has seemingly seen all of Canada's offensive plays and they're adjusting to them. This had been happening all season, but with Kenny Pickett's development, the team has been able to be successful running the plays early on in games. But once teams adjust, it's over.
