Mike Tomlin has to be fuming. The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a game yet in the NFL Preseason with their latest loss coming against the Buffalo Bills. It was not like they were playing the secondary squad for the majority of the time too. Instead, they were fielding top-tier talent in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields against a team that did not look like they were the squad's bench despite the label.
The Steelers are now 0-2 in the NFL Preseason after their 9-3 loss to the Bills. One would think the loss was acceptable because Josh Allen played but that was not at all the case. Mike Tomlin's quarterbacks were up against Mitch Trubisky and Ben DiNucci. Who did the Steelers field? The duo of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields took turns playing signal caller. Not a single inch of momentum was gained throughout that time. Tomlin did not like this idea and had to get real on his two stars, via Coral Smith of Around the NFL.
“I was really up-front with the group about it in that regard, that can't be a problem for us. We've got to be better than we were tonight in that area. You know, still not what we're looking for. It was better in some areas but still JV in too many others,” Tomlin declared.
How did Justin Fields and Russell Wilson perform for the Steelers?
Fields was the one who was creating more opportunities between the two. The younger Steelers quarterback completed 11 out of his 17 attempted passes for 92 yards. Not to mention, his elite rushing game was also still on display. In those runs, Fields carried the ball eight times to help the Steelers get an average gain of 5.2 yards per rush. He was doing quite a lot to keep his team afloat but it just was not enough to get them a touchdown.
Wilson, on the other hand, still proved that he had a cannon for an arm. But, his production was very low against the Bills because their pocket would often collapse. He still made eight completions out of 10 passing attempts. All of which added up to 47 yards. Despite all of this, Tomlin and the Steelers coaching staff don't seem eager to rush into drastic ways of patching up their woes.
“It's somewhat of an incomplete study because you just don't get a chance to see them operate or us operate or us establish rhythm and personality when you're not winning possession downs. We weren't. The first three or so series of the game, it was three and out, and you're not going to get an opportunity to establish a rhythm or play the way you'd like as an individual or a collective,” the head honcho added.
Will they turn things around in the middle of the NFL Preseason?
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