What They’re Saying: Pittsburgh Steelers
On facing the Patriots…
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach [Bill] Belichick and company, their mode of operation and how they do business. They’re a transitional group as well, like us. It’s been a number of years since we’ve been in a stadium against them and as you put the tape on, you see that. They have significant players in all three phases and in coaches as well, but I know their core values will remain the same. I think if you’re playing the New England team, they will always have a high floor. They won’t beat themselves, they won’t be highly penalized, they will play the field-positioning game, they’ll work to win the weighty moments, they’ll fight for every blade of grass and goal-line and short-yardage and things of that nature.They’ll do things to dress up their high-volume stuff on offense and defense in an effort to search for a winning edge from a game-planning perspective.They play a really, really good matchup game. An example: I’m watching their tape and they’ve always got a lockdown-match cornes over the years. In recent years, it’s been [Stephon] Gilmore, and then it was [J.C.] Jackson, and now it’s [Jonathan] Jones. I think that’s what you get when you get continuity in a program if you will. The names may change, but the roles and how they go about business, their mode of operation very much remains the same. I turned on the tape from last week and I see 31 [Jonathan Jones] tracking 10 [Tyreek Hill] from Miami very much in ways like the number one corners from New England usually do. On offense, I see Mac Jones very much in command of the offense, doing a great job of communicating, changing things, getting them in a premium look and doing so in a hostile environment in Week 1 on the road in Miami. New England is New England.”
– Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
“They have a mode of operation. They attack you in all three phases. They play stingy defense, they keep the point totals down, they play great in situations, they win possession downs, they play the field position game in special teams.”
– Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
