Here's some quotes from everyone's favorite Coach (except for the newly born Doubting Thomases), and a few players as well after Sunday's discouraging loss to the Jets:
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
Definitely a subpar performance on our behalf today. I don't want to take anything away from the New York Jets. They played well enough to win. I'd like to congratulate them. All three phases we fell below the line of what's acceptable. We didn't tackle well. We didn't protect our quarterback on offense. We didn't run the ball, and didn't establish any kind of rhythm in terms of running the ball. That performance speaks for itself. The guys did stay in the fight, but not enough.
On whether the team came out flat after a recent emotional three-game stretch...
We're not going to make excuses about that performance. We were prepared to play today and didn't get the job done.
On the performance of special teams...
I'm not pleased at anything. We lost the game. As that last play goes, I'm not going to try to frame the game based on that play. We were poor on all three phases today, or at least weren't up to snuff enough to put together a winning performance. Thomas Jones ran the ball on us. We didn't run the ball effectively offensively and we didn't protect the quarterback. When you do those things, you don't stop the run, you can't run the ball effectively, you can't protect the quarterback, you've got a high probability of losing.
On whether the offensive line is becoming an issue...
You could finger point, but we all accept responsibility for this one. That's the reality of football. That's the way I live football. It's the ultimate team sport. You win together, you stink it up together. We did that today.
On how different this Jets team was after the bye...
The issue for us is us. We're not going to make excuses about our opponent coming off a bye, flea flickers and all that. We have to play football. It's about what we do. It's about our technique, by what we see. We didn't do a good enough job today.
Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Ward
Collectively, we all lost the game. From special teams, to offense, to defense, we all had our hand put into it. We are a young team. We are trying to develop to try and get better. These are the games that you can't get back. Going on the road, you try to become a great road team, but hats off to the Jets, they came out and wanted it more than we did.
On if the Jets looked like a different team following the bye...
When you have two weeks to prepare for somebody it is going to make things a lot easier. We have a lot of guys banged up, but there are no excuses. We came out and played a bad game. We will learn from it and move on. That is the tale of the season. You are not going to play a good game every game. Today, unfortunately, it was a terrible day.
Pittsburgh Steelers OL Alan Faneca
Their sub-defenses on blitzes were changed up a little. They were hiding them differently. A lot of times when they had a four-down line, they were bringing three and pinching the ends on the outside to get in front of Ben (Roethlisberger's) face and they mirrored a guy with a linebacker. They did different things, but you have to adapt.
On allowing seven sacks...
It always sits on our shoulders as an offensive line. There are a lot of things that go into sacks and it is not all us, but some of it is. We will carry that burden.
Pittsburgh Steelers DE Brett Kiesel
It was something that we prided ourselves on upfront, well not just up front but the whole team. We consider ourselves a team defense that we got 11 guys that are coming to the ball wherever the ball is.
On subconsciously not letting a 1-8 Jets record affect them coming into the game...
I'm tired of coming in on the road and getting socked in the face a couple of times before we get serious and get settled down and play our style of defense.
A couple of quick thoughts:
-- Come in off the ledge everyone, this isn't just an average football team and the coaching staff doesn't deserve to be fired.
--The defense didn't tackle well and that's obvious but I would bet that is more of a one game anomaly than a upcoming trend. The last quote by Kiesel is discouraging though. Hopefully this loss will open some eyes.
--The offensive line is a weak link in this chain but they're not as bad as they looked yesterday. It still needs to be vastly retooled in the offseason but it is not so bad that, when game planned correctly, this team can't win with the current unit.
There's my two cents what are yours?