Mike Tomlin will ‘re-evaluate’ everything about Steelers

Mike Tomlin will be taking a hard look at who should be playing after the Steelers’ historically bad day on defense against the Patriots on Sunday.

by Louis Bien

Nov 4, 2013, 6:40 PM UTC

Jared Wickerham

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Mike Tomlin might be making some big roster moves over the coming week after the Pittsburgh Steelers defense was pasted for 55 points and 610 total yards by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The points and the yards were the most allowed in the history of the Steelers franchise. Tomlin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that changes may be coming:

“You re-evaluate everything,” Tomlin said. “You have to after a performance like that and we will. It doesn’t necessarily mean we will change or change for the sake of changing, but we will look at every aspect of what we are doing and who we are doing it with because we can’t have performances like that.”

Tomlin added that he was “angry” and “disappointed” by the way his team played, he will be sitting players he felt lacked effort Sunday.

With the scored tied 24-24 late in the third quarter, the Patriots went on a 31-7 run over the final 17-plus minutes of regulation. Tom Brady had been hobbled and ineffective over the first half of the season, but he was able to light up the Steelers secondary for 432 yards and four touchdowns. Three Patriots topped 100 yards receiving, led by Rob Gronkowski's 143 yards and one touchdown on nine receptions. The Steelers also allowed 197 yards rushing, including 115 yards and two touchdowns to Stevan Ridley.

Neal Coolong at Steelers blog Behind The Steel Curtain also took notice of the Steelers’ poor effort. Like Tomlin, he spared no one.

It shouldn’t be “act like you’ve done it before.” Now, it’s “act like you have a fighter’s chance of competing in this game if you make a few plays.”
The reality is, they aren’t doing “it” anymore, and Sunday’s lackluster level of energy and emotion while the game was still competitive makes a casual observer wonder if the lack of plays isn’t directly tied to the lack of enthusiasm on both sides of the ball.