Mike Tomlin shows confidence in his offense, and it pays off
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Mike Tomlin refuses to live in his fears. It鈥檚 a phrase the Steelers head coach has repeatedly used in the past, and his guts in key situations Monday night proved just that.
The first came in the first quarter with Antonio Brown鈥檚 29-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-1 when the Steelers were well in field-goal range, and another on a 19-yard reception to Eli Rogers that led to the team鈥檚 second touchdown.
Tomlin confirmed that Brown鈥檚 touchdown on a seam route was the original call, and was rather blunt when asked if that type of decision reflected his team鈥檚 mindset.
鈥淲e play to win,鈥� he said.
The Steelers were 2 for 2 on fourth downs and 9 for 14 on third downs. The first-team offense, ranked among the NFL鈥檚 best a season ago, is a confident group, and with good reason. Brown torched the Redskins secondary for 126 yards and two scores, Roethlisberger reached 300 yards passing and DeAngelo Williams averaged 5.5 yards per carry.
鈥淲e have a lot of confidence in ourselves as a unit,鈥� tight end Jesse James said. 鈥淲e feel that the only ones that can stop us is ourselves, and we were able to convert on those third and fourth downs. It was huge, and played a big part in the game.鈥�
When Roethlisbeger stood at the line of scrimmage Brown鈥檚 29-yard touchdown, he immediately recognized the coverage on his All-Pro receiver and knew where he was going.
鈥淭hey gave us a man look,鈥� Roethlisberger said. 鈥淭he safety kind of was in the middle of the field. I put the ball up quick and let him make a play. Obviously, the two other (receivers) were wide open, but that鈥檚 my guy.鈥�
Roethlisberger finished 27 of 37 for 300 yards, and a committee of players stepped up alongside Brown. Rogers finished with six receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown off a deflection in the end zone. Sammie Coates had 56 yards receiving, including an impressive 42-yard catch after he beat his defender on a seam route. Williams, starting in place of Le鈥橵eon Bell, tallied 143 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns.
Despite an offense with different core pieces from a year ago, it still produced similar results.
鈥淲e hold ourselves to high expectations,鈥� Roethlisberger said. 鈥淚 think people thought, 鈥榃hat are you going to do without Martavis? What are you going to do without Heath Miller?鈥� My message was, 鈥榃ell, we鈥檝e got (Coates), we鈥檝e got (Rogers), and all the tight ends, and DeAngelo Williams.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e got guys that can make plays, and they showed up tonight.鈥�