Mike Tomlin attributes Kenny Pickett, Steelers’ recent late-game success to being fearless: ‘We play to win’

Mike Tomlin has realized one thing about his crew thru six video games, one thing that has helped the Pittsburgh Steelers get off to a 4-2 get started. 

The Steelers’ longtime trainer was once requested what has led to the Steelers’ recent fourth-quarter success. Over the previous two video games (each wins), Pittsburgh has outscored the Ravens and Rams through a mixed rating of 28-0 within the fourth quarter. 

“We’re not scared,” Tomlin responded. “We play to win, we don’t play not to lose.” 

Tomlin added that his quarterback, Kenny Pickett, stocks that mentality. It’s one thing that forced the Steelers to make a choice him within the first spherical of the 2022 NFL Draft. 

While he and the Steelers offense have not began rapid, Pickett and his teammates have had recent success past due in video games. Against the Ravens, Pickett hit George Pickens for the game-winning rating with 1:17 left. Pickett led the offense to 21 second-half issues on Sunday that incorporated a couple of scoring drives within the fourth quarter. 

“We’re going to continually go to work on more fluid and more productive starts. But it’s a component of it that’s not new, and that’s his ability to rise up in moments,” Tomlin stated of Pickett, who has received 9 of his remaining 12 begins.

“I don’t know that any of us are surprised by his ability to make the plays that he makes when it really gets thick. I just think that some people are built like that. Some people relish the opportunity. Some people really smile in the fact of adversity. Some people are competition junkies. I think he’s all of those things, but that’s not something that we just discovered, as I mentioned. It’s something that we knew even prior to him being a Pittsburgh Steeler.”

While the Steelers’ sturdy finishes were spectacular, Tomlin said {that a} sooner get started from his offense is one thing this is being labored on. Tomlin stated {that a} loss of execution at first of video games has been extra of a reason why for the gradual begins somewhat than anything else the crew does from a structural point of view. 

Specifically, Tomlin pointed to two miscues that happened on Pittsburgh’s first offensive ownership on Sunday. After Najee Harris ripped off an 8-yard run on first down, a neglected blocking off task led to a sack of Pickett on moment down. Pickett and Pickens then failed to attach on a deep go on 3rd down as Pickett stuck the ball however was once not able to stay each ft in bounds. Had the ones performs been a hit, Tomlin stated that he more than likely should not have been discussing Pittsburgh’s gradual begins all through Tuesday’s presser. 

While his crew could have discovered its identification from an intangible point of view, Tomlin stated that groups seldom have a tangible identification in as of late’s NFL, particularly on offense. 

“I think in 2023, when you’re talking about team identity, you’re talking more intangible quality things,” Tomlin stated. “A grit, a mindset, the approach in which you take the circumstances. Are you a calculated, risk-taking group? Are you a fundamentalist group? Are you a small menu group? Those are the things that really kind of comprise identity today. If you start talking about, ‘We’re a running group,’ then people are going to show up in goal line defense and open field on you. So it doesn’t behoove you to marry yourself to an identity. All it does is make the sledding more difficult in 2023.” 

From an intangible point of view, the Steelers have showcased a fearlessness past due in video games that has led to recent success. The identical can also be stated of Pittsburgh’s quarterback, who regardless of no longer having gaudy stats continues to pop out at the successful aspect extra steadily than no longer.