September 15, 2024 • 11 mins
Steelers Historian Bob Labriola sits down for his weekly talk with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 2 matchup against the Denver Broncos.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin King Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach. During your news conference on Tuesday,
you said that today's opponent, the Denver Broncos, will play
to their environment. What does playing to their environment mean
and how do the Broncos do that?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You know, they started last week on the road, as
we did, and there's a certain set of challenges that
come with that. They got the comforts of their home venue.
Their reputation is real in terms of the crowd noise.
I'd imagine their defense is going to use that to
their advantage, particularly in one dimensional passing circumstances. They're gonna
be in a blitch posture. They're gonna stress our offensive line.
(00:38):
We've got a rookie center, we've got a young, inexperienced guard.
We're in their venue and that's the first thing that
comes to mind when I think about the advantages of that.
And then on the offensive side of the ball, everything
is at your disposal when you're working in the confines
of your home venue. If they choose to change the
pace and go no huddle, if you will, they're capable
(00:58):
of doing that. Communicated the line of scrimmage when you
do in those scenarios and oftentimes gadgets and things of
that nature. People are more comfortable at trying things in
their home venue than they are on the road.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Whenever the words denver and environment actually are put together,
one thing that crosses everyone's mind is the altitude. Chuck
mull always believed that athletes needed several days of exposure
to altitude to become accustomed to it, and so the
best travel plan, in his mind was to arrive in
the city the day before the game, like a normal
road trip. Do you share that thought.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
You know? I think those discussions are less relevant today.
Technology has kind of minimized some of that. These guys
trained with devices that restrict their oxygen intake, for example,
in the off season, and so there's so many mechanisms
at their disposal to prepare them not only this week,
but over the course of the whole twelve month calendar
(01:53):
in terms of how they train. Restricted oxygen is just
a routine component of training these days. Think it just
prepares them for some of those scenarios that used to
be more problematic for us as a collective.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
From a football one oh one perspective, what are the
advantages and disadvantages of having the quarterback under center versus
in the shotgun.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You know, under center, man, you can do a lot
more things in terms of play concepts, particularly in the
run game, your play pass is more effective from under center.
It is very difficult to get that downhill attack field
that usually causes linebackers to suck up when you're doing
(02:36):
play pass out of gun, and so really, you know,
it's some of those nuances. The amount of plays, particularly
in the run games, that are at your disposal is
a limited a less number that are at your disposal
and gun, and then there's a little bit lost in
terms of the feel of play pass.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Because most high schools and colleges run their offenses with
the quarterback and the shotgun. The quarterbacks now coming into
the NFL lack the skill and know how to execute
under center.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Not only the centers, but I mean it's not only
the quarterbacks, but it's the centers. There's just a lot
less of that, and you become what you repeatedly do.
There's a muscle memory component to skill development, and it
is not unreasonable in today's game to have a center
and a quarterback to play all the way to the
professional level without having a lot of exposure to see
(03:25):
Q exchanges. It's just a function of today's game. A
lot of offices operate exclusively out of gun or pistol,
and a lot of colleges do as well, And so
that's just a component of today's game that I really
don't make a big deal out of it. To be
honest with you, these are top flight athletes. You present
something to them new, they learn it, and they make
it a non issue. It's like most college punters don't
(03:48):
double as holders because there's one hundred and ten people
on the roster. Most punters you have to teach to
hold once they get to the NFL. But if they're
top notch, you know, caliber athletes, it's a pretty fluid process.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Last week, we talked about how when you have a
cornerback following a receiver, how that impacts like some of
the other players. So using that same train of thought
for the shotgun, if you use it one hundred percent
of the time, how does that impact some of the
other positions on offense, the linemen, the eligibles, the running backs.
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Oftentimes shotgun comes with two point stance. Offensive linemen just
in terms of a structure. You know, there's a lot
of you know, unintended consequences or secondary consequences of planning
out of that structure. If you plan out of that
structure exclusively, you do probably more past than run. The
pass sets up your run. You know, the splits are
usually dictated by that off that approach to business, the
(04:42):
type of plays that you run. A lot of zone
scheme running, for example, as opposed to gap scheme runs,
and so Man, we could go on for days about
the ramifications for all parties involved when you choose that
to be your structure. But you know, it's just a
component of our business. It's no different than having a
four to three or three four discussion on defense. It's
(05:03):
really not a big deal. It's just how you choose
to go about your business.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Okay. A penalty that we saw more of during kickoff
weekend was illegal formation when an offensive tackle was ruled
to have lined up in the backfield. What is the
standard there between what's legal and what will draw a
penalty flag.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
You have to break the waistline of the center if
you're an offensive lineman. That's the general standard. Your helmet
has to break the waistline of the center. They challenged
that From time to time, particularly in one dimensional pass
of moments, a tackle that's facing a premier edge rusher
will try to get an advantage, and usually that's where
the discussion lies. Very rarely do you see that penalty
(05:43):
being called on first or second down. Generally it's a
one dimensional pass and circumstance and a guy's facing a
premier rusher and he's trying to gain an edge, and
his helmet might not be breaking the waistline or the center.
That's the general discussion.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So is that something a new point of vs Because
I don't remember that being called very much at all,
if at all.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It's you know, certain things go down at the early
portions of the season at times in the NFL. I'm
not going to call it agenda then that would make
me a conspiracy theorist. But certain things go down at
the beginning of the season that kind of gets everyone's
attention and everyone falls in line. I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Another stat that jumped out from Kickoff weekend was that
placekickers were successful on twenty one of twenty three field
goal attempts from fifty plus yards. Does that level of
consistent accuracy impact in game strategy, either in terms of
attacking or defending.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Certainly it does, but I think that's not a secret
this time of year. There's no component of fatigue this
time of year that could affect that the wear and
tear of the journey, if you will. I'd imagine that
number will be lower over the second half of the
season because of work, but also just you know, just
(06:58):
a number of pristine environments time of year, whether it's
indoor or whether it's nice weather outdoor in September. As
you get into October and November, weather conditions become a
factor in the cumulative fatigue component of the journey becomes
a factor, which makes that more problematic in terms of
decision making and the actual kicking.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Bow Nicks will start a quarterback today for the Broncos.
Would you classify him as a mobile quarterback who is
looking to buy time to make throws down the field
or is he a running quarterback for whom there will
be designed plays to attack a defense with his running.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You know, in terms of his draft profile, I characterized
him as a mobile guy. But I saw some stuff
in Week one in terms of what he was able
to do and what they were able to do that
that's probably evolving. The thing that have to acknowledge is
a one game body of work is a small sample size,
and so we are discovering that, and really probably the
(07:57):
Denver Broncos are discovering that. If we're all being truthful
with ourselves this time of year, we're still discovering a
lot of things about our opponents and about ourselves. We're
hardening the up divisions of labor. We're hard hardening up
and developing personalities and things that are non negotiable. I
think that's just a component of the early portions of
(08:18):
the journey that is the season. I've been in it
long enough to see it from that perspective. Sometimes younger
and more inexperienced guys are ready to die on hills
too early in this journey, and it's an evolving and
developing thing.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
In terms of his running style, you have any Josh
Allen in him?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know, an Josh Allen is an alien. You know
what I mean? He's effective. I'm not ready to put
him in the alien category. Hopefully my opinion doesn't change
after this football game.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
What are some of the characteristics of a Sean Payton offense.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
You know, Sean utilizes a variety of personnel groups and
that just speaks to his experience. A lot of the
younger coordinators, Man, they thrive on pace, and when you
thrive on pace, then obviously that limitsure personnel usage. Sean's
been around, man, He's like John Gruden. He's from that
generational play caller where personal, personnel and specialization kind of
(09:15):
characterizes them different than like Sean McVay and Mike McDaniels
and guys like that who are from a younger generation
where pace is king. Uh, specialization and personnel is king
for Sean Page's generation obviously, which I'm of a part of.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Earlier in the week you signed punter Corlis Weightman, you
said he developed as a holder during his time here
with the Steelers. Can you expand on that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
You know, as I mentioned earlier in our dialogue, in
college circumstances, oftentimes punters don't hold because of the number
of people available to him. There's a dual job in
the NFL, because of talent scarcity, there's a limited number
of people, and so we taught him how to hold,
and obviously him learning how to hold here Boz was
(10:03):
a major component of that, and so I'd imagine that's
pretty comfortable for Boz considering he was a part of
his growth and development process in that area. And make
no mistake, not only is the exploits of Boz when
we send our field goal unit out there, but there's
a snap, whole kick component of it that's a major
component of consistency and operation as well.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
So how does the kicker help a guy learn how
to be a holder.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Just talking to him about what he values? You know,
the ball can be held at a variety of angles upright,
Some kickers prefer a ball to be up and down.
Some people want the ball leaning backwards, forwards, etc. Some
people are really sensitive about, you know, the space in
which you place the ball, and so there's a lot
(10:46):
of nuances to the discussion, and really it's probably different
from kicker to kicker, and Boz was able to, you know,
impose his little nuances on Corlis at a very young age,
and I imagine it it shaped some of his core
values and mechanics as a holder.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Did you consider that when you were picking up punter? Absolutely? Absolutely,
I mean is Chris Boswell's opinion maybe a little bit
more than mostly anybody else but yours.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Hey, let's be honest, Okay, when you're trying to pick
a punter, when there's a bunch of punters employed, dudes
are unemployed for a reason, and so there's some shortcomings
that all the candidates hold. When one of the candidates
has an experience with your kicker who was AFC Special
Teams Player of the Week last week, then yes, it
is a component of the discussion.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
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 King Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach. During your news conference on Tuesday,
you said that today's opponent, the Denver Broncos, will play
to their environment. What does playing to their environment mean
and how do the Broncos do that?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You know, they started last week on the road, as
we did, and there's a certain set of challenges that
come with that. They got the comforts of their home venue.
Their reputation is real in terms of the crowd noise.
I'd imagine their defense is going to use that to
their advantage, particularly in one dimensional passing circumstances. They're gonna
be in a blitch posture. They're gonna stress our offensive line.
(00:38):
We've got a rookie center, we've got a young, inexperienced guard.
We're in their venue and that's the first thing that
comes to mind when I think about the advantages of that.
And then on the offensive side of the ball, everything
is at your disposal when you're working in the confines
of your home venue. If they choose to change the
pace and go no huddle, if you will, they're capable
(00:58):
of doing that. Communicated the line of scrimmage when you
do in those scenarios and oftentimes gadgets and things of
that nature. People are more comfortable at trying things in
their home venue than they are on the road.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Whenever the words denver and environment actually are put together,
one thing that crosses everyone's mind is the altitude. Chuck
mull always believed that athletes needed several days of exposure
to altitude to become accustomed to it, and so the
best travel plan, in his mind was to arrive in
the city the day before the game, like a normal
road trip. Do you share that thought.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
You know? I think those discussions are less relevant today.
Technology has kind of minimized some of that. These guys
trained with devices that restrict their oxygen intake, for example,
in the off season, and so there's so many mechanisms
at their disposal to prepare them not only this week,
but over the course of the whole twelve month calendar
(01:53):
in terms of how they train. Restricted oxygen is just
a routine component of training these days. Think it just
prepares them for some of those scenarios that used to
be more problematic for us as a collective.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
From a football one oh one perspective, what are the
advantages and disadvantages of having the quarterback under center versus
in the shotgun.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You know, under center, man, you can do a lot
more things in terms of play concepts, particularly in the
run game, your play pass is more effective from under center.
It is very difficult to get that downhill attack field
that usually causes linebackers to suck up when you're doing
(02:36):
play pass out of gun, and so really, you know,
it's some of those nuances. The amount of plays, particularly
in the run games, that are at your disposal is
a limited a less number that are at your disposal
and gun, and then there's a little bit lost in
terms of the feel of play pass.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Because most high schools and colleges run their offenses with
the quarterback and the shotgun. The quarterbacks now coming into
the NFL lack the skill and know how to execute
under center.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Not only the centers, but I mean it's not only
the quarterbacks, but it's the centers. There's just a lot
less of that, and you become what you repeatedly do.
There's a muscle memory component to skill development, and it
is not unreasonable in today's game to have a center
and a quarterback to play all the way to the
professional level without having a lot of exposure to see
(03:25):
Q exchanges. It's just a function of today's game. A
lot of offices operate exclusively out of gun or pistol,
and a lot of colleges do as well, And so
that's just a component of today's game that I really
don't make a big deal out of it. To be
honest with you, these are top flight athletes. You present
something to them new, they learn it, and they make
it a non issue. It's like most college punters don't
(03:48):
double as holders because there's one hundred and ten people
on the roster. Most punters you have to teach to
hold once they get to the NFL. But if they're
top notch, you know, caliber athletes, it's a pretty fluid process.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Last week, we talked about how when you have a
cornerback following a receiver, how that impacts like some of
the other players. So using that same train of thought
for the shotgun, if you use it one hundred percent
of the time, how does that impact some of the
other positions on offense, the linemen, the eligibles, the running backs.
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Oftentimes shotgun comes with two point stance. Offensive linemen just
in terms of a structure. You know, there's a lot
of you know, unintended consequences or secondary consequences of planning
out of that structure. If you plan out of that
structure exclusively, you do probably more past than run. The
pass sets up your run. You know, the splits are
usually dictated by that off that approach to business, the
(04:42):
type of plays that you run. A lot of zone
scheme running, for example, as opposed to gap scheme runs,
and so Man, we could go on for days about
the ramifications for all parties involved when you choose that
to be your structure. But you know, it's just a
component of our business. It's no different than having a
four to three or three four discussion on defense. It's
(05:03):
really not a big deal. It's just how you choose
to go about your business.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Okay. A penalty that we saw more of during kickoff
weekend was illegal formation when an offensive tackle was ruled
to have lined up in the backfield. What is the
standard there between what's legal and what will draw a
penalty flag.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
You have to break the waistline of the center if
you're an offensive lineman. That's the general standard. Your helmet
has to break the waistline of the center. They challenged
that From time to time, particularly in one dimensional pass
of moments, a tackle that's facing a premier edge rusher
will try to get an advantage, and usually that's where
the discussion lies. Very rarely do you see that penalty
(05:43):
being called on first or second down. Generally it's a
one dimensional pass and circumstance and a guy's facing a
premier rusher and he's trying to gain an edge, and
his helmet might not be breaking the waistline or the center.
That's the general discussion.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So is that something a new point of vs Because
I don't remember that being called very much at all,
if at all.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It's you know, certain things go down at the early
portions of the season at times in the NFL. I'm
not going to call it agenda then that would make
me a conspiracy theorist. But certain things go down at
the beginning of the season that kind of gets everyone's
attention and everyone falls in line. I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Another stat that jumped out from Kickoff weekend was that
placekickers were successful on twenty one of twenty three field
goal attempts from fifty plus yards. Does that level of
consistent accuracy impact in game strategy, either in terms of
attacking or defending.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Certainly it does, but I think that's not a secret
this time of year. There's no component of fatigue this
time of year that could affect that the wear and
tear of the journey, if you will. I'd imagine that
number will be lower over the second half of the
season because of work, but also just you know, just
(06:58):
a number of pristine environments time of year, whether it's
indoor or whether it's nice weather outdoor in September. As
you get into October and November, weather conditions become a
factor in the cumulative fatigue component of the journey becomes
a factor, which makes that more problematic in terms of
decision making and the actual kicking.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Bow Nicks will start a quarterback today for the Broncos.
Would you classify him as a mobile quarterback who is
looking to buy time to make throws down the field
or is he a running quarterback for whom there will
be designed plays to attack a defense with his running.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You know, in terms of his draft profile, I characterized
him as a mobile guy. But I saw some stuff
in Week one in terms of what he was able
to do and what they were able to do that
that's probably evolving. The thing that have to acknowledge is
a one game body of work is a small sample size,
and so we are discovering that, and really probably the
(07:57):
Denver Broncos are discovering that. If we're all being truthful
with ourselves this time of year, we're still discovering a
lot of things about our opponents and about ourselves. We're
hardening the up divisions of labor. We're hard hardening up
and developing personalities and things that are non negotiable. I
think that's just a component of the early portions of
(08:18):
the journey that is the season. I've been in it
long enough to see it from that perspective. Sometimes younger
and more inexperienced guys are ready to die on hills
too early in this journey, and it's an evolving and
developing thing.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
In terms of his running style, you have any Josh
Allen in him?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know, an Josh Allen is an alien. You know
what I mean? He's effective. I'm not ready to put
him in the alien category. Hopefully my opinion doesn't change
after this football game.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
What are some of the characteristics of a Sean Payton offense.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
You know, Sean utilizes a variety of personnel groups and
that just speaks to his experience. A lot of the
younger coordinators, Man, they thrive on pace, and when you
thrive on pace, then obviously that limitsure personnel usage. Sean's
been around, man, He's like John Gruden. He's from that
generational play caller where personal, personnel and specialization kind of
(09:15):
characterizes them different than like Sean McVay and Mike McDaniels
and guys like that who are from a younger generation
where pace is king. Uh, specialization and personnel is king
for Sean Page's generation obviously, which I'm of a part of.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Earlier in the week you signed punter Corlis Weightman, you
said he developed as a holder during his time here
with the Steelers. Can you expand on that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
You know, as I mentioned earlier in our dialogue, in
college circumstances, oftentimes punters don't hold because of the number
of people available to him. There's a dual job in
the NFL, because of talent scarcity, there's a limited number
of people, and so we taught him how to hold,
and obviously him learning how to hold here Boz was
(10:03):
a major component of that, and so I'd imagine that's
pretty comfortable for Boz considering he was a part of
his growth and development process in that area. And make
no mistake, not only is the exploits of Boz when
we send our field goal unit out there, but there's
a snap, whole kick component of it that's a major
component of consistency and operation as well.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
So how does the kicker help a guy learn how
to be a holder.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Just talking to him about what he values? You know,
the ball can be held at a variety of angles upright,
Some kickers prefer a ball to be up and down.
Some people want the ball leaning backwards, forwards, etc. Some
people are really sensitive about, you know, the space in
which you place the ball, and so there's a lot
(10:46):
of nuances to the discussion, and really it's probably different
from kicker to kicker, and Boz was able to, you know,
impose his little nuances on Corlis at a very young age,
and I imagine it it shaped some of his core
values and mechanics as a holder.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Did you consider that when you were picking up punter? Absolutely? Absolutely,
I mean is Chris Boswell's opinion maybe a little bit
more than mostly anybody else but yours.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Hey, let's be honest, Okay, when you're trying to pick
a punter, when there's a bunch of punters employed, dudes
are unemployed for a reason, and so there's some shortcomings
that all the candidates hold. When one of the candidates
has an experience with your kicker who was AFC Special
Teams Player of the Week last week, then yes, it
is a component of the discussion.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
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.
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