Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — For the second year in a row, Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers and John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens are facing off with their seasons on the line.
A major difference, however, is that the former has the luxury of playing in front of a home crowd.
Tomlin was asked during his weekly press conference on Tuesday afternoon if there would be any advantage to being at Acrisure Stadium in primetime on Sunday night.
“Certainly, there is. The ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage, to communicate, to get into appropriate schemes and so forth offensively get challenged,” Tomlin said. “It’s the same urgency that we had when we went into Baltimore several weeks ago. It creates tangible challenges for your offense. That’s why it’s so important that you start fast when you’re in those circumstances.
“That’s why our ability to go down the field and score on the first possession, for example, in Baltimore a couple of weeks back, I thought was so significant in terms of trying to neutralize some of that. Our job this week is different, but I’m certainly glad that this game is being played in Acrisure.”
About a month ago, Tomlin had to hear the wrath of the black and gold faithful in the same setting. The noise around the Steelers’ longtime leader had reached a fever pitch after an embarrassing home loss to the Buffalo Bills. The reprieve from the mob lasted but so long, with frustrations coming to a head again after last weekend’s road loss to the lowly Cleveland Browns.
Tomlin agreed with the fanbase’s frustrations after those in attendance called for his job. He didn’t have any message for the fanbase this time.
“That’s our job to make sure that we have the appropriate engagement, and so I’m committed to that component of it,” Tomlin said.
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Mike Tomlin Turning to Steelers Fans Despite Obvious Angst
