January 15, 2024 • 13 mins
Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Playoff Matchup with the Buffalo Bills
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin Gaing Day podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola, Okay coach. Last week we talked about
how you decide whether to practice indoors or outdoors at
the upmc rooney Sports Complex. This week you held practice
is at Actrosure Stadium. What was your thinking there?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
You know, we needed the elements, we needed the weather,
we needed the windage, but we also needed a safe
environment from a footing standpoint. You know, the ground is
heated over at the stadium, very much like game day
plan surfaces, and so we went for realism. We took
the short trek over to the stadium, got a couple
of good days work, got a chance to work in
the elements, got a chance for ball placement and ball
(00:40):
tracking in the elements, while at the same time not
compromising health and safety. From a footing perspective, I understand
that weather is an issue for both teams, and that
makes it fair. But does weather or the threat of
weather impact the week's preparation in terms of what you
may or may not include in the plan. Without question,
you want to take the mystique and so that's preparedness.
(01:03):
If you anticipate in a lot of rain, you work
with wet balls for example. You know, if you anticipate
windage and so forth being an issue, you don't run
from that in prep you run to it. And so
you want preparation to be as game like as possible.
And so those are some of the things that you
do in terms of being able to change practice times
(01:23):
and locations in an effort to best simulate game day activity.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
You mentioned wind. Of all the elements that you might
face outdoors, wind is never constant. I mean, if it's
rain and its rain, and you know, if it's cold,
it's cold. So how does that make it the trickiest
of all the potential elements to prepare for and then
execute in.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
With without without a doubt, without a doubt, because you
can't anticipate the gust. But you better be prepared. The
better be a preparedness, the better be an agenda, that
better be an understanding based on it. Potentially, this is
our field goal line when we go in this direction
because of potential windage. This is our field goal line
going this direction because of potential windage. It doesn't necessarily
(02:06):
mean that you could have windage when you're there and
you're approaching and you're making a decision about whether to kick,
but you better, you know, do your due diligence from
a preparedness standpoint, pregame in terms of some of those things,
how does the windage carry the deep ball? Is it
going to push it out of bounds? Is it going
to push it towards the middle of the field in
a certain direction? You know, it's a myriad of things,
(02:29):
but it becomes somewhat routine when you've been in a
while a.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Week of preparation in the playoffs, Does it feel any different?
I mean, more urgency, more focus, more of an understanding
that this really is officially win or go home.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You know, it's probably a little bit more of that,
but probably less for us than some others because we've
been in a real heightened and urgent state for some
time now for obvious reasons, and so certainly it is different.
But we've probably been been in more of that state
than some of the others in the field over the
last two or three weeks.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Is it more exciting, more fun, any of that stuff?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I love playoff football, I always do. I love when
the football season comes to a close. But we're still
partaking high school football has been over college football, most
recently over now over half the national football leagues on
vacation eighteen teams, and so you just really respect and
appreciate being a part of football. When it's scarce, as
(03:31):
the road gets narrow, you're still in it. And if
you love it, if you love competition, you really appreciate
being a component of that.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Mason Rudolph is the starter today. What can a quarterback
do from a physical preparation standpoint to deal with or
come back the elements, you know, work, get on an
accord with receivers. And that's what this week was about
for us. We've been inside some in recent weeks because
(04:00):
weather conditions and so forth, and it was just good
to be out in it for him to gauge his
deep ball and things of that nature and see the
effects of windage on it, get on the same page
with receivers relative to those things, and and so it's
it's it's really no secret. It's you know, confidence is
steeped in preparation. Preparation is based on repetition. Is there
(04:22):
any truth to this quarterback his arm? He can cut
through the wind? This quarterback andnot? I mean or is
that just people talking to a degree.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Certainly, man, there's a value in arm strength, a guy
that can power football without a doubt. They're they're varying
degrees of it. How significant it is, it depends on
how significant the windage is. Ben for example, I know
(04:52):
that he loved inclement weather because just about it, in
every circumstance, he was going to perform to more normalcy
than the opposing quarter fact, no matter who it was,
because that was just reflective of his arm talent, and
not only his arm talent, but his experience. You know,
a Northwest Ohio boy, he was used to the elements.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
TJ. Watt is out with a knee injury. Are your
other outside linebackers or Alex high Smith, Marcus Golden and
Nick Herbick. What do you need from them today? And
is there any such thing as them trying to do
too much to compensate?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
You know, I don't know that we're worried about them
doing too much in this particular instance. I think all
of those guys know they're not TJ. You know, but
we need them to play well, and we need them
to make the plays that they need to make. It's
not only a player responsibility. In terms of replacing a
player the caliber TJ, it is probably more importantly a
(05:49):
coach responsibility. Oftentimes we use cliches like you got red paint,
you paint your barn red. The loss of TJ is significant.
The schematics change, a lot of things change. The way
that Buffalo intends to attack us will change. When they
were in one dimensional pass of moments prepping for this game,
(06:09):
I'd imagine that they had eligible receivers helping their right
tackle in terms of securing that edge. When there's no
TJ over there, they got more latitude in terms of
decision making in one dimensional pass of moments, and so
there's a lot of things that are affected by his
presence or lack of presence, and the player component is
(06:30):
just a fraction of it.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Okay, today's opponent, it's the Buffalo Bills and the player
who immediately comes to mind as quarterback Josh Allen, what
kind of design quarterback runs do the Bills utilized with Alan?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
You know, they use some gap scheme runs. They pull
the tackle a bunch in an effort to gain a
blocker at the point of attack. That allows them to
keep the point of attack cleaner. So there's less clutter,
and I'm sure is designed to safeguard him to keep
(07:04):
him healthy. But he is a competitor. He is really talented.
They run him a lot, to be quite honest with you,
he's got fifteen rushing touchdowns, and so that talks to
you about an area on the field specifically when they
run him. But they'll run him on possession downs in
an effort to get a new set of downs. They're
really thoughtful and good about the utilization of his talents.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
In that way. In terms of going about minimizing his running,
is it similar at all to minimizing Lamar Jackson's running?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
You know in some ways, yes, in their willingness to
use schematics to highlight it, it makes it eleven on
eleven football. There's a difference between the athletic quarterback that
ad lives as plays breakdown and turns passing concepts into
potential running concepts than it is the design run component.
(07:58):
You can play traditional football and manage quarterback mobility from
a scramble standpoint, you have to throw schematics at design
quarterback running, and in that way, there's similar to Baltimore.
There's some design quarterback runs where you have to match
the mathematic component of it. If you got Mika standing
in the middle of the field and they're utilizing the
(08:20):
quarterback as a runner, then you're playing ten on eleven
and so you're going to lose some of that unless
people are whooping blocks and making tackles and so the
schematic run component of quarterback play really changes decision making
from a defensive perspective, and in that way, they're similar
to Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
In the passing game, Josh Allen frequently looks to his
two tight ends. One of them is Dalton Kincaid, who
has ninety one targets and seventy three catches. The other
one is Dawson Knox, who is sixty four to two
hundred and fifty five pounds. How are those tight ends
utilized within the Bills offense? You know?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
And they control the middle of the field. While I
say that they're also very flexible in terms of moving
people around. Their matchup oriented group is probably the best
way to put it. And a guy likes Stefan Diggs
absorbs a lot of attention. Oftentimes, particularly in weighty moments.
He gets the attention of multiple dbs. It's double teams
(09:19):
and so forth, and really it just provides one on
one opportunities for other guys. And we talk about a
guy like ken Kaid, who is a late first round pick.
Oftentimes he is too athletic for linebackers to cover, and
so if two guys are occupied by Stefan Diggs, there's
a one on one matchup. The Gabe Davis matchup is
a one on one matchup. The James Cook, who is
(09:42):
really talented in the passing game, is another one on
one matchup. And so they've done a really nice job
of surrounding Josh Allen with a bunch of credible guys
that can win one on one matchups, and we got
a special guy like Stefan Diggs that usually absorbs the
attention of two then they have their pick of options.
And when you got high pedigreed options as you mentioned
(10:03):
like Knox and ken Kaid, who were drafted relatively high
and really thought of well in the passing game of
their position to produce the type of targets and numbers
that you mentioned, Is.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
There a particular unit or particular players on your defense
who will do the heavy lifting in terms of covering
those tight ends.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
You know, it's you know, you're not gonna reinvent the wheel.
Linebackers and safeties are responsible for tidy and coverage globally
in the National Football League, depending on down and distance
and circumstances, and the potential for run oftentimes or not
depends on whether it is a linebacker or a safety.
You're not gonna have corners in there in most circumstances
(10:48):
because you're giving up too much regarding the run and
the run game component of it. And so it'll be
a mix of linebackers and safeties for us. But I
didn't give you any fruitful information because that's always the case.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
This will be the fifth game against the Bills in
a five year span, and as you have mentioned, there
is a lot of tape to digest. Do you see
that familiarity as an asset or as an additional challenge?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
You know, it just depends on perspective in terms of
being in the same space and how the athletes match up.
The pedigree component of it. It is very useful if
you're looking at the schematic component of it. You can
trick yourself over that five year span. Man, They've gone
from the ball to Ken Dorsey to now Joe Brady.
(11:36):
In terms of play callers on the other side of
the ball, they went from Leslie Fraser to Sean McDermott.
And so you can seek comfort in that familiarity. But
the play caller, the architect, if you will, how they
land that plane. Some of the details, the things that
might represent them from a personality standpoint in weighty moments
(11:58):
could be dramatically different. And so you better not assume anything.
And that's the spirit in which I prepare, even with
familiar opponents, every week, I started again and new. I
think that's the appropriate way to proceed in the National
Football League. When you start assuming, you're setting yourself up
for failure.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
The Steelers last winning the playoffs came in twenty sixteen.
Is ending that streak a rallying point.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You know, not necessarily for our guys. That's my story,
that's not herbic story. Twenty sixteen. Herbert was probably in
ninth grade. Guys like Landon Roberts was playing for other teams.
It's not their burden to bear. I don't ask them
to tope my luggage. I don't project my luggage onto them.
(12:45):
This is a twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four Pittsburgh Steelers,
and I'm concerned about this journey and rallying cries as
it pertains to this group. And sometimes you're kidding yourself
if you think history like that is important to guys
that weren't a part of it, it's not.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast
Network that's available on the Steelers Mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
He's the Mike Tomlin Gaing Day podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola, Okay coach. Last week we talked about
how you decide whether to practice indoors or outdoors at
the upmc rooney Sports Complex. This week you held practice
is at Actrosure Stadium. What was your thinking there?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
You know, we needed the elements, we needed the weather,
we needed the windage, but we also needed a safe
environment from a footing standpoint. You know, the ground is
heated over at the stadium, very much like game day
plan surfaces, and so we went for realism. We took
the short trek over to the stadium, got a couple
of good days work, got a chance to work in
the elements, got a chance for ball placement and ball
(00:40):
tracking in the elements, while at the same time not
compromising health and safety. From a footing perspective, I understand
that weather is an issue for both teams, and that
makes it fair. But does weather or the threat of
weather impact the week's preparation in terms of what you
may or may not include in the plan. Without question,
you want to take the mystique and so that's preparedness.
(01:03):
If you anticipate in a lot of rain, you work
with wet balls for example. You know, if you anticipate
windage and so forth being an issue, you don't run
from that in prep you run to it. And so
you want preparation to be as game like as possible.
And so those are some of the things that you
do in terms of being able to change practice times
(01:23):
and locations in an effort to best simulate game day activity.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
You mentioned wind. Of all the elements that you might
face outdoors, wind is never constant. I mean, if it's
rain and its rain, and you know, if it's cold,
it's cold. So how does that make it the trickiest
of all the potential elements to prepare for and then
execute in.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
With without without a doubt, without a doubt, because you
can't anticipate the gust. But you better be prepared. The
better be a preparedness, the better be an agenda, that
better be an understanding based on it. Potentially, this is
our field goal line when we go in this direction
because of potential windage. This is our field goal line
going this direction because of potential windage. It doesn't necessarily
(02:06):
mean that you could have windage when you're there and
you're approaching and you're making a decision about whether to kick,
but you better, you know, do your due diligence from
a preparedness standpoint, pregame in terms of some of those things,
how does the windage carry the deep ball? Is it
going to push it out of bounds? Is it going
to push it towards the middle of the field in
a certain direction? You know, it's a myriad of things,
(02:29):
but it becomes somewhat routine when you've been in a
while a.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Week of preparation in the playoffs, Does it feel any different?
I mean, more urgency, more focus, more of an understanding
that this really is officially win or go home.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You know, it's probably a little bit more of that,
but probably less for us than some others because we've
been in a real heightened and urgent state for some
time now for obvious reasons, and so certainly it is different.
But we've probably been been in more of that state
than some of the others in the field over the
last two or three weeks.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Is it more exciting, more fun, any of that stuff?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I love playoff football, I always do. I love when
the football season comes to a close. But we're still
partaking high school football has been over college football, most
recently over now over half the national football leagues on
vacation eighteen teams, and so you just really respect and
appreciate being a part of football. When it's scarce, as
(03:31):
the road gets narrow, you're still in it. And if
you love it, if you love competition, you really appreciate
being a component of that.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Mason Rudolph is the starter today. What can a quarterback
do from a physical preparation standpoint to deal with or
come back the elements, you know, work, get on an
accord with receivers. And that's what this week was about
for us. We've been inside some in recent weeks because
(04:00):
weather conditions and so forth, and it was just good
to be out in it for him to gauge his
deep ball and things of that nature and see the
effects of windage on it, get on the same page
with receivers relative to those things, and and so it's
it's it's really no secret. It's you know, confidence is
steeped in preparation. Preparation is based on repetition. Is there
(04:22):
any truth to this quarterback his arm? He can cut
through the wind? This quarterback andnot? I mean or is
that just people talking to a degree.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Certainly, man, there's a value in arm strength, a guy
that can power football without a doubt. They're they're varying
degrees of it. How significant it is, it depends on
how significant the windage is. Ben for example, I know
(04:52):
that he loved inclement weather because just about it, in
every circumstance, he was going to perform to more normalcy
than the opposing quarter fact, no matter who it was,
because that was just reflective of his arm talent, and
not only his arm talent, but his experience. You know,
a Northwest Ohio boy, he was used to the elements.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
TJ. Watt is out with a knee injury. Are your
other outside linebackers or Alex high Smith, Marcus Golden and
Nick Herbick. What do you need from them today? And
is there any such thing as them trying to do
too much to compensate?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
You know, I don't know that we're worried about them
doing too much in this particular instance. I think all
of those guys know they're not TJ. You know, but
we need them to play well, and we need them
to make the plays that they need to make. It's
not only a player responsibility. In terms of replacing a
player the caliber TJ, it is probably more importantly a
(05:49):
coach responsibility. Oftentimes we use cliches like you got red paint,
you paint your barn red. The loss of TJ is significant.
The schematics change, a lot of things change. The way
that Buffalo intends to attack us will change. When they
were in one dimensional pass of moments prepping for this game,
(06:09):
I'd imagine that they had eligible receivers helping their right
tackle in terms of securing that edge. When there's no
TJ over there, they got more latitude in terms of
decision making in one dimensional pass of moments, and so
there's a lot of things that are affected by his
presence or lack of presence, and the player component is
(06:30):
just a fraction of it.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Okay, today's opponent, it's the Buffalo Bills and the player
who immediately comes to mind as quarterback Josh Allen, what
kind of design quarterback runs do the Bills utilized with Alan?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
You know, they use some gap scheme runs. They pull
the tackle a bunch in an effort to gain a
blocker at the point of attack. That allows them to
keep the point of attack cleaner. So there's less clutter,
and I'm sure is designed to safeguard him to keep
(07:04):
him healthy. But he is a competitor. He is really talented.
They run him a lot, to be quite honest with you,
he's got fifteen rushing touchdowns, and so that talks to
you about an area on the field specifically when they
run him. But they'll run him on possession downs in
an effort to get a new set of downs. They're
really thoughtful and good about the utilization of his talents.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
In that way. In terms of going about minimizing his running,
is it similar at all to minimizing Lamar Jackson's running?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
You know in some ways, yes, in their willingness to
use schematics to highlight it, it makes it eleven on
eleven football. There's a difference between the athletic quarterback that
ad lives as plays breakdown and turns passing concepts into
potential running concepts than it is the design run component.
(07:58):
You can play traditional football and manage quarterback mobility from
a scramble standpoint, you have to throw schematics at design
quarterback running, and in that way, there's similar to Baltimore.
There's some design quarterback runs where you have to match
the mathematic component of it. If you got Mika standing
in the middle of the field and they're utilizing the
(08:20):
quarterback as a runner, then you're playing ten on eleven
and so you're going to lose some of that unless
people are whooping blocks and making tackles and so the
schematic run component of quarterback play really changes decision making
from a defensive perspective, and in that way, they're similar
to Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
In the passing game, Josh Allen frequently looks to his
two tight ends. One of them is Dalton Kincaid, who
has ninety one targets and seventy three catches. The other
one is Dawson Knox, who is sixty four to two
hundred and fifty five pounds. How are those tight ends
utilized within the Bills offense? You know?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
And they control the middle of the field. While I
say that they're also very flexible in terms of moving
people around. Their matchup oriented group is probably the best
way to put it. And a guy likes Stefan Diggs
absorbs a lot of attention. Oftentimes, particularly in weighty moments.
He gets the attention of multiple dbs. It's double teams
(09:19):
and so forth, and really it just provides one on
one opportunities for other guys. And we talk about a
guy like ken Kaid, who is a late first round pick.
Oftentimes he is too athletic for linebackers to cover, and
so if two guys are occupied by Stefan Diggs, there's
a one on one matchup. The Gabe Davis matchup is
a one on one matchup. The James Cook, who is
(09:42):
really talented in the passing game, is another one on
one matchup. And so they've done a really nice job
of surrounding Josh Allen with a bunch of credible guys
that can win one on one matchups, and we got
a special guy like Stefan Diggs that usually absorbs the
attention of two then they have their pick of options.
And when you got high pedigreed options as you mentioned
(10:03):
like Knox and ken Kaid, who were drafted relatively high
and really thought of well in the passing game of
their position to produce the type of targets and numbers
that you mentioned, Is.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
There a particular unit or particular players on your defense
who will do the heavy lifting in terms of covering
those tight ends.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
You know, it's you know, you're not gonna reinvent the wheel.
Linebackers and safeties are responsible for tidy and coverage globally
in the National Football League, depending on down and distance
and circumstances, and the potential for run oftentimes or not
depends on whether it is a linebacker or a safety.
You're not gonna have corners in there in most circumstances
(10:48):
because you're giving up too much regarding the run and
the run game component of it. And so it'll be
a mix of linebackers and safeties for us. But I
didn't give you any fruitful information because that's always the case.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
This will be the fifth game against the Bills in
a five year span, and as you have mentioned, there
is a lot of tape to digest. Do you see
that familiarity as an asset or as an additional challenge?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
You know, it just depends on perspective in terms of
being in the same space and how the athletes match up.
The pedigree component of it. It is very useful if
you're looking at the schematic component of it. You can
trick yourself over that five year span. Man, They've gone
from the ball to Ken Dorsey to now Joe Brady.
(11:36):
In terms of play callers on the other side of
the ball, they went from Leslie Fraser to Sean McDermott.
And so you can seek comfort in that familiarity. But
the play caller, the architect, if you will, how they
land that plane. Some of the details, the things that
might represent them from a personality standpoint in weighty moments
(11:58):
could be dramatically different. And so you better not assume anything.
And that's the spirit in which I prepare, even with
familiar opponents, every week, I started again and new. I
think that's the appropriate way to proceed in the National
Football League. When you start assuming, you're setting yourself up
for failure.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
The Steelers last winning the playoffs came in twenty sixteen.
Is ending that streak a rallying point.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You know, not necessarily for our guys. That's my story,
that's not herbic story. Twenty sixteen. Herbert was probably in
ninth grade. Guys like Landon Roberts was playing for other teams.
It's not their burden to bear. I don't ask them
to tope my luggage. I don't project my luggage onto them.
(12:45):
This is a twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four Pittsburgh Steelers,
and I'm concerned about this journey and rallying cries as
it pertains to this group. And sometimes you're kidding yourself
if you think history like that is important to guys
that weren't a part of it, it's not.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast
Network that's available on the Steelers Mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.