Despite winning, Mike Tomlin sends a strong message about “catastrophic” infractions.
The Steelers are the first team in NFL history to have a winning record through eight games despite being outgained in each one.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are somehow 5-3 despite being outplayed in almost every game this season. Thursday night was no exception as the Steelers prevailed 20-16 over the Tennessee Titans after committing a season-high 10 penalties.
The Titans also outgained the Steelers thanks to some final drive woes by Pittsburgh, including a defensive holding penalty on a fourth down stop that would have ended the game.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was adamant on finding a way to fix Pittsburgh’s penalty problem.
“Obviously it could have been cleaner, first and foremost from a penalty perspective. Part of being a tough team to beat is not kicking your own butt, and we’ve been doing that, and we’ve got to own that,” Tomlin said, via the Steelers website. “We’ll bring some officials into our practice setting in order to be cleaner, because that was catastrophic, really, to a lot of our efforts.”
The Steelers have plenty of talent on their team, especially on the defensive side. It’s remarkable how they’re winning games though. The offense has yet to truly figure itself out, ranking in the bottom five in points and yards per game.
The Steelers are the first team in NFL history to have a winning record through eight games despite being outgained in each one. Pittsburgh has the second-worst yardage differential in the league behind only the Denver Broncos and the worst point differential of any team with a winning record at -30.
Outside of two blowout losses, the Steelers are 5-1 and have gutted out several close wins in a bunch of different ugly ways. Somehow, Mike Tomlin continues to win football games with an average roster.
