PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have found themselves in the midst of a three-game losing streak that has seen them look listless on the field. Both sides of the ball have struggled, with the offense and defense both unable to create as they had earlier in the year.
In head coach Mike Tomlin’s opening press conference for the final week of the season, he spoke a lot about turnover issues.
“Man, we turned that ball over going into the end zone, that’s significant.” Tomlin said. “We turned the ball over to start the second half on the short field, provided those guys a short field, and you just can’t give offensive units and offensive players like Mahomes short fields. You can’t take points off the board when you’re in scoring position.”
Here, Tomlin speaks on the interception that opened the floodgates for the Chiefs offense in their loss on Christmas Day, as the Steelers were unable to capitalize and gave the momentum over to the Chiefs for the rest of the game with that turnover. The Steelers have the 10th least turnovers, with six interceptions and ten fumbles on the season.
That being said, they have come at quite inopportune times. One such example was a fumble in the game against the New York Giants, which allowed them to have a chance at a comeback before the Steelers finished them off.
Tomlin was asked in the press conference what they can do to prepare to face the Bengals and close out the season, and once again spoke on turnover issues.
“Take care of the football and stay on schedule,” Tomlin said. “I think when we stay on the schedule and we take care of the football, we’re a formidable group and at times, particularly in the last several weeks, we’ve been spotty in those regards.”
He also made it clear that while some believe Russell Wilson’s turnover against the Chiefs was on George Pickens, it wasn’t – defending the wide receiver while pointing blame at Wilson.
“Not at all,” Tomlin said when asked about Pickens contributing to the interception. “George’s route running had zero to do with that interception.”
The Steelers have locked up a playoff spot, but seeding still remains in the balance during their Week 18 matchup.
Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI to get all your daily Pittsburgh Steelers news, interviews, breakdowns and more!
