There is no doubt the disappointment of the 28-21 loss to the New England Patriots lingered on Friday morning, but for Steelers' players the key thing was looking at the film, seeing where mistakes were made and working on correcting them.
The Steelers host the San Francisco 49ers at Heinz Field next Sunday, and those mistakes must be corrected before they take the field.
"It didn't come out the way we wanted it to," said Timmons of the loss. "We are going to look at the film, go from there, make the corrections and get ready for San Fran."
That mindset resonated in the locker room, where several defensive players weren't looking to place blame for the loss, but rather fix the problems that led to the Patriots scoring four touchdowns against them.
"We have to execute better," said defensive end Cam Heyward. "We have to switch some things up in practice. At the end of the day we have to line up and be ready and we didn't do that. I am not going to make an excuse for anything we did.
"At the end of the day we didn't get the job done. They caught the balls, we didn't convert, we didn't get off the field, and we didn't win in every situation. As a defense we have to get better. We have to get off the field quicker, we have to win third downs, stop the run better and key in on their keys. We knew where the ball was going, but we didn't execute. We need to move on and learn from this and try not to let it happen again."
Cornerback Will Gay blamed the loss on allowing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to throw for four touchdown passes, three of them to tight end Rob Gronkowski.
"They had four touchdowns passing. That's how we lost the game," said Gay. "We are going to look at the film and where they scored and get ready for San Francisco. Next week is a new challenge, just a different jersey."
