It was tough for the Steelers fans to watch the 35-25 loss to the Packers on October 26. The Steelers completely shot down their own chances with a poor play. Even after a convincing 16-7 lead before halftime, Pittsburgh couldn’t convert it into a victory. With such an embarrassing loss, you just know Mike Tomlin was going to have something to say…and he definitely did.

“We didn’t put 60 minutes of football together… you’re always a little bit concerned when you’re settling for field goals when you’re playing good people. It seems like touchdowns is how it gets done in our business at this level, and so it was a little bit less than comfortable at halftime selling for three field goals. We didn’t perform very well in second and long, not only in the first half of the game, but in the totality of the game,” Tomlin said in the post-game press conference.

They went just 1-for-10 on third downs, which restricted so many drives and limited the chances to put points on the board. Even veteran QB Aaron Rodgers, who finished 24 of 36 for 219 yards, admitted that the third-down struggles and second-half performance were not up to the mark.

‘Disappointed I didn’t play better, that we didn’t play better, especially in the second half,” QB admitted.

What left the Steelers fans scratching their heads was that Pittsburgh actually averaged 5.5 yards per run, yet they couldn’t find the end zone when it counted. Out of their six scoring drives, only two resulted in touchdowns. Before their final late touchdown, the Steelers had managed just 38 total yards in the entire second half against the Packers.

Although the offense might seem as the primary shortcoming, the defense was equally accountable for the loss. But it appears that Tomlin has taken a much lenient approach towards it.

Mike Tomlin takes a U-turn on the defense

The secondary struggled heavily, giving up 454 total yards and failing to force a single turnover, which helped the Packers put 35 points. Despite that rough showing, Mike Tomlin appears to be taking a more tolerant approach towards the defensive unit.

“#Steelers Mike Tomlin said there doesn’t need to be dramatic changes to the defense–it’s details,” 93.7 The Fan’s tweet read. This seemed to be at odds with what Tomlin has been saying earlier. 

After the game, the Steelers HC told the reporters that,

“I’m open to doing whatever it is that we need to do schematically or from a personnel standpoint to improve this. “We just got to be better in all areas, and it starts first with the positions that we put players in,” Tomlin added. For the Packers, the game was something.

Tight end Tucker Kraft had a field day, scoring career-highs in receptions (7) and yards (143). Pittsburgh had no answers for him.  Green Bay’s QB Jordan Love completed 29 of 37 passes for 360 yards and 3 touchdowns, which was his season best as well. Even analysts couldn’t take it and blasted the Steelers for their poor defense.

“This is horrendous defensively. This is crazy. This is unrecognizable to me. This is not the Pittsburgh Steelers,” former NFL coach Rex Ryan said. Former NFL quarterback-turned-analyst Alex Smith also weighed in and said,

“There was nothing Pittsburgh did that you’re going to turn on the tape and feel good about.”

Whether it is an offensive shortcoming or a defensive flaw, Tomlin certainly has a lot of homework to do, or else Sunday’s game against the Colts will result in a similar outcome, and all that will be left is shifting the blame.