December 30, 2022 • 11 mins
Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 17 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola, Okay coach. Last week here we talked
about the challenge of defending a Raiders offense that had
the one two punch of the NFL's leading rusher at
the time and Josh Jacobs and a dynamic playmaking receiver
in Davante Adams. Uh. Jacob's finished with forty four yards
(00:22):
on fifteen carries. Adams had two catches for fifteen yards.
Is that what you had in mind in terms of
the execution of the plan or there are other factors involved?
Certainly there are there are other factors, But in terms
of an agenda, Um, yes, that is what we had intended.
And and like I mentioned, we were having discussion. You know,
we're quite used to dealing with a one two punch
(00:44):
like that. I think back to my old Avon and
Antonio Brown days and when you're in those significant moments, UH,
in training camp like settings in Latrobe, man matra was
always make somebody else make the play other than those two.
And um, that's the man that that we went into
the game. And that's why you saw like Hunter Renfro
making a player too early. Um, you know, we just
(01:06):
wanted to create a climate where those guys weren't the
significant playmakers. And then we start moving targets around the
level of the playing field as the game we're on,
sometimes focusing our energies on Waller, sometimes focusing our energies
um on Hunter Renfro. But the bottom line of the
base was those two people and making them play left handed,
if you will, or using supplementary guys. When you've got
(01:27):
two guys that comprise the bulk of an offense like that,
you gotta take the balls out of their hands. And
it's more than just wishing the guys responsible for them luck.
I'm talking about putting schematics to it, and and and
that's the job. DeVante Adams in particular, was targeted nine
times and he finished with with just those two catches.
When the receiver is targeted that many times and finished
(01:50):
with so few catches, what's the defense've been doing? Right?
We had two people on them. Um, they got a
commitment to getting him the ball. Thus to nine nine
targets and if it's two on one or the percentage
is probably gonna be pretty low. When they were in
one dimensional passing circumstances, you're dealing with a guy, Uh,
of that, of that stature in this game, you put
(02:10):
two people on him. I don't know that there was
a third down or two minute in that area where
a B did not have two people on him. Uh.
That was just that was just life, um and and
that's how the game has played when you're playing at
an elite level at that position. Cam Sutton's diving interception
(02:31):
last Saturday night sealed the win over the Raiders, and
he's now tied for second on the team with three interceptions.
He leads the team with fourteen passes defense. What kind
of season has he been having and what are those
statistics say about his development? And what is now his
sixth NFL season. Camas a guy that has been UM
on the upswing since day zero. He's developed within the program. Uh,
(02:53):
he has a he has an understanding of a totality
of what it is that we do UM and that
is reflected in his plays, reflected in the play that
you mentioned. Um. He's a Swiss Army knife man. We
can play him outside on first and ten football, we
play him inside and passing circumstances and he matches up
versus high level interior guys that that are significant components
(03:14):
of passing attacks, like Tyler Boyd is a significant matchup
for him UH in passing downs when we play Cincinnati.
Um his versatility, UM his experience within our system allows
us to move him and make our two primary pieces
that we're able to move around quite a bit and
UM and just to diversify our attack. And um Man
(03:37):
he's a guy that's been really rock solid and really
been on the rise and providing quality play for us,
not only this year, but I think it's just reflective
of the trajectory of his career over the six years
he's been here. Just so I understand what qualifies as
a past defense UM ball targeted toward the receiver, and
a defender doing something physically to ensure that the catch
(03:58):
is not made, breaking the ball up, UH, dislodging the ball,
pulling the ball out, hitting the elbow, making it somewhat
of an uncatchable play. It has to be some physical
confrontation from a defensive back to to limit the potential
for a catch. It's not the closest dB on the drop,
the closest dB on an overthrow, etcetera, etcetera. It has
to be some positive action by the defensive back. Is
(04:21):
that a key statistics? And evaluating the corner? Um? You know,
I I think like Russia's man, they're they're they're evaluated
by landing the plane. Um. You know you can be
a good dB by getting breakups. You're great one if
you're catching it. Um. It's like quarterback pressures and sacks. Um.
It tells a portion of the story. It might it
might speak to deficiencies. A guy that doesn't get sacks man,
(04:42):
you question is finished? Can he turn the corner? What
type of body leaning does he have? Etcetera. A defensive
back with a bunch of breakups, you're questioning, Hey, what's
his hand eye coordination? Like can he pick up the
blur of the ball? Um? Does he have? You know,
poor hand selection? There's a lot of things that encompass
a guy not matching the ball fluently and so um.
It could speak to productivity, but it also could could
(05:05):
lead to other areas of focus or needed improvement. The
Ravens won the earlier matchup, and they did it in
Pittsburgh by rushing for two and fifteen yards and killing
the final two plus minutes of a two point game
just by running the football. Afterwards, you said the Ravens
won the attrition game, and you also said that in
football quote, the ball snaps, you kick butt, or you
(05:26):
get your butt kicked. Uh. Is your team looking for
some payback tonight in that area or look and looking
for payback be counterproductive and trying to secure a victory. Um,
it could be counterproductive, it can be productive. UM. What
you'd like to think when you have a professional football
team is that you know that low hanging fruit is there,
but it's not significant in terms of our focus and
(05:47):
what has to happen in the stadium. There's a lot
of things relative to this game and what's at stake
right now for us and the team that we're playing. Uh.
Certainly that exists. UM, but but that's just history. UM.
I'm in here, and now our groups into here, and
now they better be UM, they better be focused on
what makes today a big day as opposed to UM,
(06:08):
what transpired Um the last time we played them. Uh,
they could use that low hanging fruit. The last couple
of times we've been in Baltimore, we've won. UM. But
the bottom line is that ball is gonna snap today
in both teams you gotta play football today. Uh, your
defense is facing a running quarterback and Tyler Huntley. What's
the process for a defense one it is faced with
(06:28):
having to account for a running quarterback. You know, running,
the ability to run is just a component of it.
I think the thing that makes Baltimore challenging and makes
a discussion complex is design quarterback runs. UM, scrambling quarterbacks.
You just respect that. Um, there's certain mechanisms that you
that you work to deal with that and that has
(06:48):
been around in the NFL for as long as I've
been in the NFL. When I came into the league,
I was in the NFC South, and you know, they
had Michael Vick in Atlanta, UM the scramble. He was
in the West Coast offense, and so you only had
to deal with his athleticism via the scramble or improv.
What's going on in today's game, and specifically in Baltimore,
(07:09):
is it putting schematics to it and design quarterback runs
is a totally different scenario. Now that becomes triple option
football like Oklahoma of the eighties and things of that nature.
Now you've got to start employing deep defenders. It becomes
a mathematic game. It's an eleven on eleven game at
that point. And so when you take the free safety
(07:29):
out of the middle of the field, UM to combat it,
it's a very necessary thing. But it also creates an
opportunity for splash because when you break the line of scrimmage, man,
it might be more space. And so that's what quarterback
mobility is doing to today's game. It's not just the
fact that these guys can run, UM, it's the coach's
willingness to have design runs that include them that that
(07:52):
make a challenging for defenses and defensive coordinators. And talking
about the Ravens style, you said they play a limited
possession game, a field position game. When you're matched against opponent,
an opponent like that, do you do you try to
combat that with a different style of play or do
you just try to play that very style but do
it better than they do it. You gotta win possession downs, UM.
(08:14):
Forget what their intentions are. You acknowledge their intentions, and
really what it does is it puts the weight on
possession downs and specifically what sets up possession downs. UM.
In order to win the war of attrition, they gotta
they gotta be good on third down. In order to
be good on third down, they gotta be in third manageable.
And so we gotta do a really good job of
(08:35):
of trying to push them the third and longer down
and distances and and thus get them off of that.
In the first series, for example, Uh, last time we
played them there at second and ten. Uh, we forced
the incomplete pass. It produced third and ten. That was
only three and out in the game. And so when
you get them in third and longer, you get anyone
in third longer, um, the potential to get off the
(08:57):
grass increases. And that's the lane that we gotta be in.
That's how you can bat their agenda. For a long time,
the Ravens defense has been about their linebackers. Back when
you first were introduced to this rivalry, it was Ray
Lewis and Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs. Today it's Patrick
Queen and Roquan Smith. Our Queen and Smith two versions
(09:18):
of the same kind of player. Or do they actually
compliment each other? You know, they're similar, but but at
the same time they complement one another. What I mean is, um,
it's it's like, uh, you know, Luke Keickley and Thomas Davis.
UM how they deploy them. They're very similar, but they
work in compliment. UM. Rokuan handles more of the traffic direction. UM,
(09:41):
playing in the middle of things. UM. Queen is more
of a blitzer and playing on the peripheral things. But
they're very similar in that they're both highly instinctual. They
both are running hit guys. Uh. They're both are really
built physically for today's game. Uh. They're athletic, they can
change the direction, they can play in space. UM, they
(10:02):
stand up when you spread them out. UM, they're good
underneath zone defenders. They're not uncomfortable matching up against wide
receivers and people that end up in that space sometimes
versus z own defenses. UM. I really just think you know,
you talk about Ray Lewis and Bart Scott. Those are
the type of linebackers that were appropriate and reflective of
that generation. Uh. You look at this tandem. Uh, their
(10:25):
physical attributes are appropriate and representative of what's needed in
this generational players. UM, your team's playoff hopes can be
ended before tonight's kickoff. If Miami defeats New England in Foxboro.
In such a situation, will you make any attempt to
keep that outcome of secret or is that just unrealistic. No,
I don't fight that in any way. UM. You know,
(10:47):
I like to feel like we understand that urgency each
and every week. Um, each and every week. I've always
preached that teams walk into stadiums, what happens in those
stadium is significant and has short term and long term
ramafic tions. And the more we do it, man, the
road gets narrow, those ramifications become more clear. Um. But
you better have the urgency the totality of the journey.
(11:09):
And so I'm not going to change that narrative because
the road has gotten narrow and and the consequences are
becoming more clear. Um, It's just confirmation of what we've
been talking about all year. We better focus on the
things that are in our control today and that's our
play in the winning of this game, and and no
secondary things. Um, those chips forward, they may we had
(11:29):
an opportunity to do something about those positions, that positioning,
and that component of the discussion like everyone else did.
September October November. That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast.
Subscribe in 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,
(11:51):
the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola, Okay coach. Last week here we talked
about the challenge of defending a Raiders offense that had
the one two punch of the NFL's leading rusher at
the time and Josh Jacobs and a dynamic playmaking receiver
in Davante Adams. Uh. Jacob's finished with forty four yards
(00:22):
on fifteen carries. Adams had two catches for fifteen yards.
Is that what you had in mind in terms of
the execution of the plan or there are other factors involved?
Certainly there are there are other factors, But in terms
of an agenda, Um, yes, that is what we had intended.
And and like I mentioned, we were having discussion. You know,
we're quite used to dealing with a one two punch
(00:44):
like that. I think back to my old Avon and
Antonio Brown days and when you're in those significant moments, UH,
in training camp like settings in Latrobe, man matra was
always make somebody else make the play other than those two.
And um, that's the man that that we went into
the game. And that's why you saw like Hunter Renfro
making a player too early. Um, you know, we just
(01:06):
wanted to create a climate where those guys weren't the
significant playmakers. And then we start moving targets around the
level of the playing field as the game we're on,
sometimes focusing our energies on Waller, sometimes focusing our energies
um on Hunter Renfro. But the bottom line of the
base was those two people and making them play left handed,
if you will, or using supplementary guys. When you've got
(01:27):
two guys that comprise the bulk of an offense like that,
you gotta take the balls out of their hands. And
it's more than just wishing the guys responsible for them luck.
I'm talking about putting schematics to it, and and and
that's the job. DeVante Adams in particular, was targeted nine
times and he finished with with just those two catches.
When the receiver is targeted that many times and finished
(01:50):
with so few catches, what's the defense've been doing? Right?
We had two people on them. Um, they got a
commitment to getting him the ball. Thus to nine nine
targets and if it's two on one or the percentage
is probably gonna be pretty low. When they were in
one dimensional passing circumstances, you're dealing with a guy, Uh,
of that, of that stature in this game, you put
(02:10):
two people on him. I don't know that there was
a third down or two minute in that area where
a B did not have two people on him. Uh.
That was just that was just life, um and and
that's how the game has played when you're playing at
an elite level at that position. Cam Sutton's diving interception
(02:31):
last Saturday night sealed the win over the Raiders, and
he's now tied for second on the team with three interceptions.
He leads the team with fourteen passes defense. What kind
of season has he been having and what are those
statistics say about his development? And what is now his
sixth NFL season. Camas a guy that has been UM
on the upswing since day zero. He's developed within the program. Uh,
(02:53):
he has a he has an understanding of a totality
of what it is that we do UM and that
is reflected in his plays, reflected in the play that
you mentioned. Um. He's a Swiss Army knife man. We
can play him outside on first and ten football, we
play him inside and passing circumstances and he matches up
versus high level interior guys that that are significant components
(03:14):
of passing attacks, like Tyler Boyd is a significant matchup
for him UH in passing downs when we play Cincinnati.
Um his versatility, UM his experience within our system allows
us to move him and make our two primary pieces
that we're able to move around quite a bit and
UM and just to diversify our attack. And um Man
(03:37):
he's a guy that's been really rock solid and really
been on the rise and providing quality play for us,
not only this year, but I think it's just reflective
of the trajectory of his career over the six years
he's been here. Just so I understand what qualifies as
a past defense UM ball targeted toward the receiver, and
a defender doing something physically to ensure that the catch
(03:58):
is not made, breaking the ball up, UH, dislodging the ball,
pulling the ball out, hitting the elbow, making it somewhat
of an uncatchable play. It has to be some physical
confrontation from a defensive back to to limit the potential
for a catch. It's not the closest dB on the drop,
the closest dB on an overthrow, etcetera, etcetera. It has
to be some positive action by the defensive back. Is
(04:21):
that a key statistics? And evaluating the corner? Um? You know,
I I think like Russia's man, they're they're they're evaluated
by landing the plane. Um. You know you can be
a good dB by getting breakups. You're great one if
you're catching it. Um. It's like quarterback pressures and sacks. Um.
It tells a portion of the story. It might it
might speak to deficiencies. A guy that doesn't get sacks man,
(04:42):
you question is finished? Can he turn the corner? What
type of body leaning does he have? Etcetera. A defensive
back with a bunch of breakups, you're questioning, Hey, what's
his hand eye coordination? Like can he pick up the
blur of the ball? Um? Does he have? You know,
poor hand selection? There's a lot of things that encompass
a guy not matching the ball fluently and so um.
It could speak to productivity, but it also could could
(05:05):
lead to other areas of focus or needed improvement. The
Ravens won the earlier matchup, and they did it in
Pittsburgh by rushing for two and fifteen yards and killing
the final two plus minutes of a two point game
just by running the football. Afterwards, you said the Ravens
won the attrition game, and you also said that in
football quote, the ball snaps, you kick butt, or you
(05:26):
get your butt kicked. Uh. Is your team looking for
some payback tonight in that area or look and looking
for payback be counterproductive and trying to secure a victory. Um,
it could be counterproductive, it can be productive. UM. What
you'd like to think when you have a professional football
team is that you know that low hanging fruit is there,
but it's not significant in terms of our focus and
(05:47):
what has to happen in the stadium. There's a lot
of things relative to this game and what's at stake
right now for us and the team that we're playing. Uh.
Certainly that exists. UM, but but that's just history. UM.
I'm in here, and now our groups into here, and
now they better be UM, they better be focused on
what makes today a big day as opposed to UM,
(06:08):
what transpired Um the last time we played them. Uh,
they could use that low hanging fruit. The last couple
of times we've been in Baltimore, we've won. UM. But
the bottom line is that ball is gonna snap today
in both teams you gotta play football today. Uh, your
defense is facing a running quarterback and Tyler Huntley. What's
the process for a defense one it is faced with
(06:28):
having to account for a running quarterback. You know, running,
the ability to run is just a component of it.
I think the thing that makes Baltimore challenging and makes
a discussion complex is design quarterback runs. UM, scrambling quarterbacks.
You just respect that. Um, there's certain mechanisms that you
that you work to deal with that and that has
(06:48):
been around in the NFL for as long as I've
been in the NFL. When I came into the league,
I was in the NFC South, and you know, they
had Michael Vick in Atlanta, UM the scramble. He was
in the West Coast offense, and so you only had
to deal with his athleticism via the scramble or improv.
What's going on in today's game, and specifically in Baltimore,
(07:09):
is it putting schematics to it and design quarterback runs
is a totally different scenario. Now that becomes triple option
football like Oklahoma of the eighties and things of that nature.
Now you've got to start employing deep defenders. It becomes
a mathematic game. It's an eleven on eleven game at
that point. And so when you take the free safety
(07:29):
out of the middle of the field, UM to combat it,
it's a very necessary thing. But it also creates an
opportunity for splash because when you break the line of scrimmage, man,
it might be more space. And so that's what quarterback
mobility is doing to today's game. It's not just the
fact that these guys can run, UM, it's the coach's
willingness to have design runs that include them that that
(07:52):
make a challenging for defenses and defensive coordinators. And talking
about the Ravens style, you said they play a limited
possession game, a field position game. When you're matched against opponent,
an opponent like that, do you do you try to
combat that with a different style of play or do
you just try to play that very style but do
it better than they do it. You gotta win possession downs, UM.
(08:14):
Forget what their intentions are. You acknowledge their intentions, and
really what it does is it puts the weight on
possession downs and specifically what sets up possession downs. UM.
In order to win the war of attrition, they gotta
they gotta be good on third down. In order to
be good on third down, they gotta be in third manageable.
And so we gotta do a really good job of
(08:35):
of trying to push them the third and longer down
and distances and and thus get them off of that.
In the first series, for example, Uh, last time we
played them there at second and ten. Uh, we forced
the incomplete pass. It produced third and ten. That was
only three and out in the game. And so when
you get them in third and longer, you get anyone
in third longer, um, the potential to get off the
(08:57):
grass increases. And that's the lane that we gotta be in.
That's how you can bat their agenda. For a long time,
the Ravens defense has been about their linebackers. Back when
you first were introduced to this rivalry, it was Ray
Lewis and Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs. Today it's Patrick
Queen and Roquan Smith. Our Queen and Smith two versions
(09:18):
of the same kind of player. Or do they actually
compliment each other? You know, they're similar, but but at
the same time they complement one another. What I mean is, um,
it's it's like, uh, you know, Luke Keickley and Thomas Davis.
UM how they deploy them. They're very similar, but they
work in compliment. UM. Rokuan handles more of the traffic direction. UM,
(09:41):
playing in the middle of things. UM. Queen is more
of a blitzer and playing on the peripheral things. But
they're very similar in that they're both highly instinctual. They
both are running hit guys. Uh. They're both are really
built physically for today's game. Uh. They're athletic, they can
change the direction, they can play in space. UM, they
(10:02):
stand up when you spread them out. UM, they're good
underneath zone defenders. They're not uncomfortable matching up against wide
receivers and people that end up in that space sometimes
versus z own defenses. UM. I really just think you know,
you talk about Ray Lewis and Bart Scott. Those are
the type of linebackers that were appropriate and reflective of
that generation. Uh. You look at this tandem. Uh, their
(10:25):
physical attributes are appropriate and representative of what's needed in
this generational players. UM, your team's playoff hopes can be
ended before tonight's kickoff. If Miami defeats New England in Foxboro.
In such a situation, will you make any attempt to
keep that outcome of secret or is that just unrealistic. No,
I don't fight that in any way. UM. You know,
(10:47):
I like to feel like we understand that urgency each
and every week. Um, each and every week. I've always
preached that teams walk into stadiums, what happens in those
stadium is significant and has short term and long term
ramafic tions. And the more we do it, man, the
road gets narrow, those ramifications become more clear. Um. But
you better have the urgency the totality of the journey.
(11:09):
And so I'm not going to change that narrative because
the road has gotten narrow and and the consequences are
becoming more clear. Um, It's just confirmation of what we've
been talking about all year. We better focus on the
things that are in our control today and that's our
play in the winning of this game, and and no
secondary things. Um, those chips forward, they may we had
(11:29):
an opportunity to do something about those positions, that positioning,
and that component of the discussion like everyone else did.
September October November. That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast.
Subscribe in 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,
(11:51):
the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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