Mike Tomlin Puts Steelers Offense on Notice

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin is not dancing around the issues anymore. Earlier in the season, he would often indulge the offense and downplay some of the concerns. But the more time that goes by and the less improvement he sees, the harsher the statements become. Not only in the on-field play aspect but the maturity aspect.

On Monday, Tomlin admitted that he sees the offense having trouble dealing with adversity in the stadium, which can manifest into an issue, particularly with his skill position players.

“You know, we got dealing with adversity issues, and sometimes that can be characterized as maturity issues, certainly,” Tomlin said.

The most notable of those players would be George Pickens, but he is not the only one. On Saturday, there was another play that Pickens got caught in the crosswinds of criticism after watching it. In the first quarter of the game, with the Steelers driving and just after Pickens had made a catch to put the team into the red zone, running back Jaylen Warren broke free and was headed to the end zone. Pickens was downfield, but he made seemingly no effort to attempt to block Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones. Pickens stood still and watched Jones make the tackle at the 1-yard line, preventing Warren from scoring.

But more than that, it feels like there is a noticeable lack of leadership on that side of the ball, and Tomlin admitted there might be something to that, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“You know, I’m concerned about a lot of things,” Tomlin said. “You know, leadership or lack of experience, in some instances being a component of that, but not in an abnormal way.”

The Steelers continue to lack that leadership on offense, and while it’s not the only cause of the struggles, it does contribute to that. Allen Robinson II believes that the team sometimes lacks ‘mental stamina’ on that side of the ball, meaning that the group can let things snowball into each other rather than forgetting about previous plays. It’s just another thing that compounds an already long list of issues.