A week after saying his offense lacked physicality, Mike Tomlin witnessed the Pittsburgh Steelers’ toughness being surpassed in virtually every facet of play against the Buffalo Bills.

At his weekly news conference Tuesday, Tomlin admitted his team’s defense and special teams were pushed around in a 26-15 loss, the second in a row for the Steelers after an 11-0 start.

It’s uncharacteristic for a franchise that historically has taken pride in its physical brand of play.

“It is disappointing,” Tomlin said. “But part of fixing it is first acknowledging it. That is what we did yesterday.”

A review of the game tape Monday confirmed Tomlin’s suspicions the Steelers weren’t the most physical team on the field Sunday night.

“Part of watching the tape and looking at it and analyzing that component of play,” Tomlin said. “Then, it’s making a commitment and plotting a course of action to make sure our next tape doesn’t look like that.”

Unlike the previous two games, which were played after a short week of preparation, the Steelers get an extra day before they take the field Monday night at 2-10-1 Cincinnati, the only team in the AFC North with a losing record.

That will give Tomlin time to allow injured players to heal while also trying to correct physical flaws he saw exposed in the losses to Washington and Buffalo.

The Steelers rushed for 47 yards — the fifth time in a seven-game span they failed to top 50 — and mustered only a pair of touchdown drives on 12 full possessions. After the patchwork defense gave up just three points in the first half, the Steelers watched Bills quarterback Josh Allen direct a pair of third-quarter touchdown drives and control the clock.

“You can go through some of the minutia and things of that nature, but the bottom line is they were the more physical football team,” Tomlin said. “It can be highlighted in terms of their front and our inability to run the ball, but just in general, I thought in all elements of play they were the more physical group.

“They are a physical football team in general, so they are capable of that. For us, regardless of circumstances, we don’t want to make that comment. The comment is true as it pertains to that matchup. We have to be accountable to that, and we are. We have to make sure we are not saying that moving forward.”

With the NFL schedule entering its 15th week, time is running out for the Steelers to address such shortcomings. Tomlin said the Steelers will use one of their four scheduled practice days to break out the pads and have contact.

“Our mistakes have caught up to us,” defensive tackle Cameron Heyward said. “We need to own up to it, learn from it and make them disappear right away. What we’re doing now these past two games hasn’t gotten the job done.”

Rediscovering the running game will get renewed emphasis. After being ranked in the top 10 as recently as Week 6, the Steelers have dropped to No. 31, ranking ahead of only the Houston Texans. The lack of running game has contributed to abbreviated drives and an increased number of punts. Only the winless New York Jets have punted more times than the Steelers.

“Our focus hasn’t changed there,” Tomlin said about the running game. “We are several weeks into our focus there. We will continue to work. We haven’t necessarily seen the fruit of that work, yet. Some of that can be traced to some of the short weeks we’ve had. We acknowledge that. That’s why we are excited about working this work and continuing our emphasis there in an effort to get that product to look the way we need it to look and round out of our offensive attack and allow it to be more fluid and productive.”

A win against the Bengals would keep the Steelers perfect inside the division and clinch the AFC North title for the first time since 2017. It also would guarantee the Steelers at least one home playoff game.

“Those are tangible things that have our attention and excitement as we work this week,” Tomlin said.

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