Coach Mike Tomlin – 2008 Post Game Quotes

Head Coach Gary Kubiak Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos Heinz Field ▪ Sunday, December 20, 2015

Re: Trend of not playing well in second half: As a team, we probably played as good at times as we could tonight and then not so good at times. This is a great football team we played. We needed to do it all night long, and we didn’t. Offensively in the second half we didn’t make any of the plays we made in the first half. We had some opportunities and didn’t get it done. It’s very disappointing. That’s this business. You better be built for four quarters, not three.

What was Brock Osweiler’s issue? It was a shoulder. His shoulder was banged up. It was bruised. I just sent him in early to give him a head start on coming back out. I think he’s fine. I think he will be okay.

How did Osweiler play? I thought we needed to be aggressive. You have to make plays to beat a great team like this. We were very aggressive in what we were doing. We made a lot of plays in the first half. We didn’t make them in the second half. I don’t know if we made any of them. I can think of one or two plays that Emmanuel Sanders made. They had opportunities. We took advantage of every one we had in the first half but probably not any that we had in the second half.

Re: Third straight game of not scoring in the second half: I agree with you. We walked out of the locker room and got a nice first down. After that I think we had four holding calls in the next nine plays. Nobody has a chance when you do that to yourself. It was penalties and lack of execution.

Was Osweiler’s inexperience showing up in the second half? I have to go look at the film. I think there were some plays we should have made by a lot of people, not just the quarterback. I think that we executed really well in the first half – where to go, here or there. I just don’t think we executed the same way in the second half. Obviously we ran the ball pretty well in the first half. The second half on two of our first three runs, we got holding penalties. Like I said, we hurt ourselves.

Re: Antonio Brown beating a good Denver secondary: I don’t know how many catches he had, but it sure looked like he caught a bunch. He’s something special. I think we did a pretty good job for the most parting of bending but not breaking and making the right plays. You give that quarterback that many opportunities, sooner or later he is going to make you pay. Obviously he did before it was all said and done.

Re: What happened with the Jordan Norwood punt return: We had some of our offensive lineman, who thought the play was over, and started to jog. They were about 40 or 50 yards behind the ball. They started to jog on the field, which I think they did. They [Steelers] also had guys running on the field, which is evident. Then I’ve been told that he was out of bounds anyway, so I don’t know. I have to go back and look at the play. It was a very smart play by Jordan. I’ll see. Re: The Peyton Manning report from this morning: My mind is focused on the game, but that’s sad to hear. I’ll tell you what, no way. He’s working his tail off to get back on the field. That’s what he’s doing.

Are you tired of those reports? That’s my job.

Will Manning be ready to practice? The expectations are we go back and see where we’re at. We had two good days of practice in the last week. We’ll start over this week and see where we’re at.

Re: Leading a division that is now tight in standings: Kansas City is playing great. They won seven or eight in a row. They’re playing exceptionally. We lost two in a row right here. They were really tough games that I thought we should have won, but that’s the NFL. The key thing is do you learn from it and get better? I know we can be pretty darn good at any given time. We just need to find some consistency in what we’re doing. It’s on to Cincinnati and a big challenge next Monday. We’ll look forward to that. We have to have a good week.

Re: Defense getting tired in second half: I’m sure they did because in the first half offense was four-for-five. In the second half, we just weren’t doing anything. So they just kept going back out there, and I’m sure they were worn out. We just couldn’t put anything together. Broncos Players Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos Heinz Field ▪ Sunday, December 20, 2015

QB Brock Osweiler

Any explanation Brock for what happened? Everything almost went right in the first half and in the second half it just came to a screeching halt. Any explanation now? Until I see the tape, obviously I won’t know what really happened in the second half. Obviously, as an offensive unit, you can feel you weren’t moving the ball and you weren’t in the rhythm. In the first half, Coach really preached to us all week long. Each individual guy do your job. Do your job and it is going to result in good things. That’s what happened in the first half. Until I can see the tape, I won’t know what happened in the second half. Obviously it needs to be better, it needs to be fixed and as a group we will get it fixed.

Was the injuring affecting you at all in the second half? You went out with a shoulder injury in the first half and then you came back. SO was that affecting you in the second half? We still don’t know what happened to my shoulder. We are doing some x-rays tomorrow to find out. But the shoulder did not affect my playing in the second half.

How did it happen Brock? On the jet sweep? No it was actually a play or two before is when I scrambled. That’s one of those things that I keep telling you guys that I keep learning. I’m learning a lot each week and right there was a time for me, I believe it was a first-and-ten if I remember right, to get some yards, slide and get down. This was a football game that we had to win and I was going to give it everything that I had. Sometimes I think there is a place to slide and other times you need to go for yards.

When did you know in the second half that things had shifted? You guys scored on four straight possessions in the first half. Was there something different or was there something the Steelers were doing? Nothing really felt different. We just couldn’t get into a rhythm for some reason. I think you have to give credit where credit is due. The Steelers and their coaching staff made some great halftime adjustments. Those guys on the field played a great second half for the Steelers.

Re: Emmanuel Sanders: When you got a guy like Emmanuel Sanders or even like Demaryius Thomas for that matter, those guys want to compete. These guys want the football in their hands when the game is on the line. You know every single play Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas and along with the rest of the guys, those two especially will give it their all every single play. As a quarterback, that’s all you can ask for in your receivers.

Re: On talking to Emmanuel Sanders and how badly he wanted this win Absolutely. I can only imagine how bad he is hurting right now. This is obviously where he started in his career and he wanted to come in and get a win. So did the rest of the team. Unfortunately we didn’t tonight. Steelers played a heck of a game and there are some things we need to clean up and we will clean up. Re: On being the third straight game with no points being scored in the second half and what they do at half time Obviously, not the right things right now. That’s something that we’re very aware of as an offense. I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time tomorrow in meetings discussing how we can get that fixed and how we can get a fast start in the second half and score some points in the second half because that’s something as an offensive unit you have to do. You play 60 minutes not 30 minutes. That is something that we will work on and we will fix.

Re: His focus as Peyton Manning’s return approaches: Nothing changes for me. Like I told you guys before, whether I was the backup or now, with the past couple of weeks being the starter, I’ve always prepared the same exact way. I’ve always prepared like I was going to play. I’ve always prepared as if I was the starter. So for me, nothing changes either way. I’m just going to be the best teammate I can possibly be and at the end of the day do my job in whatever role that is.

Re: On the Steelers defense closing in on him faster than he anticipated: That’s something that I’m going to have to evaluate when I watch the tape. The game flies – when you’re on the field it’s very fast. Those windows close very quickly. Defensive backs are very talented in this league, same with defensive lineman. You think you have some time then before you know it there’s some color in your face. So, that’s one of those things I’ll watch on the tape. I’ll probably watch it on the plane back tonight and again in the morning. I think it’s a big learning curve for me to decide when to take off, when to throw it down the field, and when it’s time to throw it away. That’s something that I will learn while watching this tape.

WR Emmanuel Sanders

Re: First half: It felt good to start fast. We have to continue to get better. I do not know what it is but we just have to be a better second half team.

Re: Describe team performance in the second half: I do not know. You can answer that. I do not have the answers to that. All I know is we have to continuously move on. We will get back into the lab starting on Wednesday at practice and try to improve. We have to figure out a way to carry the first half into the second half.

What did it feel like to be back in Pittsburgh? It felt good, obviously the city of Pittsburgh, the Rooney’s, Mike Tomlin they have been so good to me. They drafted me in the third round. I am forever thankful for that. It felt good to be back in front of Steelers Nation waving the towels, but I wish the result would have been better.

How is this locker room? This locker room is not going to split. We are a team and we will go through a lot and be tested. One thing is we still have our goals to reach. We can still make the playoffs, we can still win the Super Bowl. So everything is going to be alright. CB Aqib Talib

Re: Secondary containing WRs all year until today: They played good. They made plays in big situations. We needed to tackle better. Kudos to those boys.

How much better does Roethlisberger make his receivers? He’s the key. You put another quarterback in there and they are not the same.

Re: Feeling at the half: We felt good at the half. We knew that we would have to do more in the second half and we did not. So we lost it.

CB Chris Harris Jr.

Re: First half versus the second half: They won the game. Usually when I play bad like this we lose the game. Last week it was the offense and this week it was me, so I have to play better.

You are putting the blame on you? Oh yeah definitely. It was the best versus the best and he won. I have not given up a touchdown in two years. The way I played was very disappointing, and I let my team down. He (Brown) is a good receiver. He’s the best receiver in the game right now. I just did not make any plays today.

Re: Today’s game: We were supposed to win this game, the offense did enough. They scored enough points in the first half. This is on the defense. We cannot let them come back, I cannot give up two touchdowns in a half. That’s on me. Head Coach Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos Heinz Field ▪ Sunday, December 20, 2015

Opening Statement: Great, great win for us. Obviously, we had a lot of contributors, but more than anything the belief in the face of adversity I thought was the common thread that allowed us to make the necessary plays to get out of the stadium. We didn’t do a lot great in the first half, particularly defensively. You give them credit, they went up and down the field, but we did a lot to aid that. We were kicking our own butt, in terms of blowing calls and things of that nature. To the guys’ credit, they came together, they settled down. We didn’t change much, to be honest with you, we just executed it better. Maybe a third down call or two, but we just played markedly better in the second half, from a details standpoint. That allowed us to win those possession downs and get off the field. Obviously, our offense did what they do. A good win for us. We don’t take it for granted and hopefully, succeeding in the face of adversity strengthens us for the battles that await. We acknowledge that we have a big AFC North test coming this week and that’s where our focus is, nowhere else. We have to keep living week in and week out in the manner in which we’re doing.

Re: On adjustments made to stop the Denver offense in the second half: We stopped kicking our own butt, probably is the No. 1 adjustment. So much of that was thing that were self-inflicted wounds, things that we were doing to ourselves. We settled down and that had a lot to do with it.

When you’re in a game like that, can you feel the momentum shift? Yes, you can, but you don’t respond to it. You have to live down in and down out and maintain that one snap at a time discipline to your approach. I think we’re a team that doesn’t ride the emotional rollercoaster, you acknowledge it exists, but for the most part we do a good job of maintaining an even keel. The veteran presence of a lot of guys help with that, Ben and James and other guys who have been around. They do a great job of helping the young guys maintain that stable approach to it as you deal with evident flow that comes in football games like we were just in.

What was the biggest difference in the second half? We stopped kicking our own butt and oftentimes, if you’re mentally tough enough to do that, you have a chance to right it. I believe that we were mentally tough and they proved it by how they played.

Re: On what caused change in the second half: More than anything, it’s what you don’t do. When things aren’t going well, oftentimes people stop talking and communicating with each other. They looked within and things of that nature. The thing I thought the guys did more than anything was that they never stopped talking, they never stopped communicating, and they never stopped making the necessary adjustments. When things get bad, you can’t go mute and they didn’t. I think that was the catalyst, more than anything, for the second half.

Re: On offensive adjustments: We feel like we’re pretty good on offense and that’s not taking anything away from them, but if we take care of the ball we feel like we can go up and down the field on anyone. Re: On the Denver punt return called back: We have to be better than that, we have to be better than that. There’s nothing wrong with that play. We have to down that football and hand it to the official. That was just complete negligence on our part.

Re: On Ryan Shazier’s interception: We drafted Ryan a couple of years ago in round one to make plays like that and he delivered.

Re: On if a game like this gives the secondary confidence: I just think the veteran presence, and that was one of the reasons we went with the group that we’re playing with. Guys like Will Allen, Mike Mitchell and Will Gay, they’ve been around and just about anything that can happen to you in the stadium had happened to those guys. It helps them help the young guys, they do a really good job. At one point in the second quarter, when things weren’t going very well, those were the three guys who I called up and had a conversation with. I told them we weren’t going to change anything we were doing, we can’t stop communicating, don’t allow the young guys to go mute. And those three guys, specifically, I thought led the charge from a secondary standpoint in terms of addressing adversity in that way.

Re: On passing against Denver: Well, it’s our strength also. The nameless gray faces we play are irrelevant if we’re on our game and we’re going to do things that are in our wheel house, and that’s in our wheel house, regardless if that’s in their wheel house.

Re: On Antonio Brown’s performance: It’s not in response to anything. Antonio Brown doesn’t need to respond to anything. He walks into stadiums and he’s Antonio Brown and he made Antonio Brown plays. Steelers Players Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos Heinz Field ▪ Sunday, December 20, 2015

QB Ben Roethlisberger

How good was that defense and what were you able to do in the second half to turn it arou nd? Very good. There’s a reason they are the number-one defense. We had to get lucky and make pl ays.

Did you make any adjustments in the second half? We always make adjustments, nothing major.

General comment: I made the statement to the team before the game that this is our last game at Heinz Field. We kn ow that our fans bleed for us. And we want to go out and give them a show and have fun doing it f or the last game here. I think they got their money’s worth.

What change in terms of finding your guys? Did they make some tougher catches for you i n the second half? Yeah, they were making plays. They basically did – not the exact opposite – but a lot different tha n we expected coming in. And we needed guys to win with man-on-man and mixing up some cov erages. It a tough battle, and I think our guys did that.

Were you mad at yourself after you threw that last interception? Of course. I was trying to make something happen. You just have to be smart. Our defense bailed us out. And when you fall off the horse, you have to get back on it. So I was glad there on that dri ve – we knew we needed to get another first down – and on, I believe it was third down or whatev er ever it was, I was glad they called a pass. I saw the coverage [with] the look I wanted. I went to my guy and he made a play for me.

Do you feel like the team is peaking at the right time of the season? I hope so. Like I said, I think the guys played well today. We went against an unbelievable defens e. They got after us and like I said we got lucky and made plays.

What did you think of their young quarterback? I thought he did great. I talked to him afterwards and just said how impressed I was [for him] to co me into Heinz Field where it was loud and to play as well as he did.

Do you see this team playing with a little more confidence? Do you feel that? Yeah, we’re playing as a team. [On] offense, defense and special teams, we are bailing each oth er out [and] we are picking each other up. We believe in each other. And it’s a pretty fun, special f eeling.

How important is it to control your own playoff destiny? Well for us, it was [about] playing one of the best in the AFC [and] the best in the NFL, the AFC W est leader. It was big test for us. And then, offensively, we talked about how good they were on d efense. And that was our big challenge this week. Do you almost feel like this team has an unbeatable feeling right now? Well, we just want to take it one at a time. We’re not going to look ahead at anything. We’ve got a divisional opponent this week at their place. So that’s going to be our focus, after we enjoy this for one night.

How is it that this offense can gain momentum so quickly? Well we believe in each other and in the system, and guys make plays. I thought the line did an u nbelievable job tonight with the pass rush that they have and helping give me some time. And the receivers got open, and even when they weren’t open, they still found a way to make plays.

You through the ball 55 times today. What does that say about your approach? We always take the approach that we are going to do everything we can, and not do things accor ding to the other team. So the reason that we probably threw the ball more than usual is because of the defense that they gave us. They gave us a personnel group that we kind of can’t and don’t want to run the ball. And they stayed in it so we had to throw it. And when you’ve got the receiver s that we do, why not?

WR Antonio Brown

Re: Best defense statistically in the NFL: You want to be the best and you’ve got to be the best. There’s no stopping me. And our guys played some great defense.

What was the difference between the first and second half? It looked like two totally different teams? It’s not about how we start, it’s about how we finish. We know that we have to stay together and rally together and fight until the finish. We had the opportunity to do that today.

Do you almost feel unbeatable out there after the way you played in the second half with the string that you’re putting together? It just makes the game better. You can never feel unbeatable. You get excited and feel unstoppable, but every week presents a new challenge, each week you have to work and get better. Our team can always grow.

What changed in the second half? It is a football game. We played a good opponent and you know that you’re going to have adversity. We had adversity but we persevered.

Were there patterns that you saw in the second half that the team felt that they needed to take advantage of? Were there certain things that you were seeing? I thought that we were doing a good job. The first half was the first half. We know that it’s going to be a fight to the finish any time you play a great defense.

Do you ever worry with this defense? You can’t get worried or frustrated. We started to focus on our game better, stayed positive and fought until the finish.

How aware were you of the first half of the competition between you and Emmanuel Sanders? Is there any personal competition between the two of you? It’s never personal. It is all about the Steelers vs the Broncos. It’s talking about the game, and we had a great game.

When did you feel Ben Roethlisberger fully trusted you? I think we’ve got that trust. You can see in certain situations that he looks to me and that’s the type of play that we want. What did you see on the game-winning touchdown? It was perfect read. Ben made a great throw. We got the post route. I was able to skim the side of him. Ben made a great throw right up the numbers.

Was the game in Seattle motivation for you to make a statement here tonight? It was definitely motivation. If you play this game long enough and you go and get your butt kicked, it’s always motivating to get back out there and get opportunities to work on my game and grow. It’s good to take on challenging teams with great cornerbacks and great defenses.

Can you tell us about the emotions at halftime? We say we focus on our assignment. We never worry. We’re never frustrated. It’s a football game. You know things won’t go as well as you want, but as a team you fight and push until the end of the game.

Did the coaches’ words motivate you? As coaches they are always going to push us. They always preach more. They always want us to get better. They always motivate us in the midst of a game. We focus on getting better, growing and staying positive in the midst of negativity.

Re: Scoring twice on Chris Harris Jr., who hasn’t allowed a touchdown in two years: I never think about what the guy’s statistics is. If you play this game long enough, you’re going to get your tail kicked at least once. Obviously it was a great matchup today. We got the better of the matchup and won the game. That’s all that’s important.

Were they the toughest secondary that you’ve faced? Absolutely. It was a great defense. They had an aggressive pass rush getting off the ball. They had a couple first round corners and a couple star safeties. It was a great day for us.

What were you saying to the guys on the Broncos’ sideline? One of my close friends actually plays for their team. We actually work out together. We’ve been talking about this game for a long time. There is always positive talk and competitive talk anytime I play against him.

You’ve got such great concentration. Do you have any game day rituals that you use to get you through the game and stay focused? I know that it is important. I just try to detail my work and do my best. Get the game plan, know what the coach tells me to do and try to do everything to the best of my ability.

S Will Allen

General comment They are good team, man. They came out and did some things that caught us off guard. We mes sed up some stuff as well. They got ahead on us, but we stuck together. We have an offense that does a great, great job. It’s hard to stop those guys. We have the best wide receiver corps in the world and the best quarterback in the world. And we don’t have any quit. And our defense steppe d up big today.

At the end, what was going through your head when Ben [Roethlisberger] threw the interc eption after you got the stop, and then you had to get one more? It didn’t matter. We were on a roll. We were feeling hot. And when we go out there with that confid ence, it’s hard to stop us. We just kept making big stops and making big plays. That’s what it take s to beat a good team. In the first half, their guys were running free. In the second half, there was no room. What happened? We messed up some plays defensively, and they took advantage of it. A good team will do that. A good team will take advantage of miscues and mental errors. And that’s we had. We had a few of those. But we corrected them. We made the adjustments. Their coaching staff did an excellent jo b of putting us in position and mixing up some things for us. That held us for the rest of the game.