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:
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.
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.
Has this team turned a corner?
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 6, 2022
Tomlin: "Stay tuned."
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!
#SteelerNation
MORE STEELERS NEWS
- Amidst Latest 2022 Struggles, Could This Be Steelers WR Diontae Johnson’s Last Season In Pittsburgh?
- Steelers Legend James Harrison Recalls Mohamed Massaquoi Fine And Regrets Not Hitting Him 75,000 Times Harder
- Kenny Pickett Beginning To Prove Steelers Were Right To Draft Him In the 1st Round
- Steelers’ QB1 Kenny Pickett Fulfills Pregame Desire With Emotions Running Sky High In Atlanta