- Seeing red:* *Sunday in Seattle wasn't a good day for the Steelers in terms of red zone efficiency, with the offense coming away with two touchdowns on four trips down there, while the Seahawks scored on all four times inside the 20-yard line. Coach Mike Tomlin knows it has to improve on both sides before the Steelers host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night at Heinz Field.
"I thought we needed to perform better in the red area on offense and on defense," said Tomlin. "Offensively we settled for some field goals. You can't do that against good people, particularly good people in their place. That hurts your efforts in terms of winning.
"Defensively I though the red zone failures were coupled with sudden change failures. We turned the ball over and they were able to turn those into touchdowns. Within those were some red zone failures. At times when we have performed well it was because of our ability to stand up in the face of that and make people settle for field goals and keep our point total down. We weren't able to do that in the game."* * * No fear:* *Tomlin has often used the line of 'not living in your fears,' when it comes to play calling, but in the fourth quarter on Sunday, with just 3:02 to play and at the Seahawks three-yard line, he opted for a 22-yard Chris Boswell field goal instead of going for the touchdown. The defense then gave up an 80-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach, and Tomlin explained the reasoning behind the decision.
"Whether or not we kicked the field goal or went for a touchdown and got that touchdown or didn't get that touchdown, a stop was going to be required," said Tomlin. "With that understanding I wanted to increase the amount of positivity in terms of us moving down to that field position. I took the three points. It was going to be required that we have a stop regardless in order to win the game. I wanted to tee the defense up from a positive momentum standpoint. We kicked the field goal. I wasn't concerned about our ability to get back down the field again from what had transpired in the game offensively. We had no problem moving the ball, particularly between the 20s. I took the bird in the hand, and put the three points on the board." * Passing it on: Using running backs in the passing game is nothing new for the Steelers, but as of late DeAngelo Williams has really stepped up in that area, most recently pulling in seven passes for 88 yards against the Seahawks.
"It has become our personality," said Tomlin. "DeAngelo has done a nice job getting up to speed and contributing in that area. I really think it's been on the upswing over the course of the year in that area and I expect that to continue. He is an asset and I know he was on Sunday."
