Mike Tomlin not planning major changes on heels of back-to-back home losses for Steelers

For the third time in the past four seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers will take a losing record into October thanks to back-to-back home losses that has dropped them into the AFC North basement at 1-2.

The Steelers overcame slow starts in 2018 and 2019 and made a run at the postseason before ultimately coming up short.

The track record of the Steelers rebounding once the leaves begin to fall gives coach Mike Tomlin confidence that his team can get back on track, perhaps starting Sunday at Green Bay.

On Tuesday, two days after absorbing a 24-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field, Tomlin said his players need to rise above the ‘negativity’ that has arisen since a season-opening win at Buffalo.

For his part, he’s not thinking about benching quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, making wholesale changes on the offensive line or any other move that is viewed as a sign of desperation. Aside from the anticipated return of injured players such as T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Diontae Johnson, the Steelers will feature the same collection of players against the Packers that took the field against the Bengals.

“We’re not going to push the panic button,” Tomlin said at his weekly press conference. “We’re not going to dramatically change who and what we are at this juncture. We’re not resistant to change for the purposes of getting better, but we’re not going to be so unsteady that we move away from our compass, the identity that we worked hard to develop.”

It’s an approach Tomlin took in 2018 when the Steelers started 1-2-1 and in 2019 when, minus Roethlisberger after the second week, the Steelers began 0-3 and 1-4.

“We’re going to work and work with an edge,” Tomlin said. “We understand where we are. We don’t want to be here. We don’t like it, but forget about not liking it. What are you going to do about it?”

Tomlin said the Steelers need to improve in three areas:

• The coaching staff needs to gain a “better understanding” of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

• The Steelers need to work on improved schematics and fundamentals “relative to positions.”

• The players need to be smarter not just in terms of committing penalties but in understanding how to handle pivotal moments in games such as when they allowed a 61-yard touchdown pass to the Raiders on a third-and-10 play or a 34-yard touchdown pass by the Bengals with 37 seconds left in the first half.

“We have some growth ahead of us,” Tomlin said. “I’m excited about that growth, and I’m excited about doing it with the collection of men we work with. We’ve gotta have tough skin. I assume that they do. I know many of the ones I have worked with for an extended period of time do. We have to teach the young ones.”

Tomlin downplayed Tyler Boyd’s assertion that the Steelers “gave up” late in the fourth quarter Sunday, citing a series of dropped passes on the final drive. The former Clairton and Pitt star wide receiver made those remarks Monday, saying he saw the Steelers “lay down like that before the game was over.”

“I don’t care about Tyler Boyd’s opinion about what transpired at any point in that game,” Tomlin said. “Like I said after the game, and it includes him, I tip my cap to that team and organization for their performance and win. I proceed moving onto the next challenge.”

The Steelers and Bengals meet again Nov. 28 in Cincinnati.

“We better play better the next time we see them,” Tomlin said. “That is always our mentality. I care less about what people say that are not involved in us and with us and functioning and understanding who and what we are.

“He is entitled to his opinion, but I don’t have to respond to it.”

While the Steelers have lost two in a row, the Packers are on a different trajectory. Since a season-opening 38-3 loss to New Orleans, Green Bay has won consecutive games, including a last-second victory Sunday night at San Francisco.

“Man, that’s what this league is about,” Tomlin said. “If you’re a competitor, this space is where we live. When you’re up against it, you’re up against it. I’m excited about attacking that this week with these guys.”