Coach Mike Tomlin examines this week's opponent – the Seattle Seahawks.Q. What is the mood of your team following the season-opening 35-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens:A. It's appropriate. We played poorly. We analyzed our performance, and we move forward to ready ourselves for the next one, but it doesn't lessen the fact that that tape is out there and it's out there forever. We understand that. We acknowledge that. We don't necessarily like it, but that's life in the NFL. We're moving forward and preparing for our next opportunity.Q. What did you see from the Seahawks on offense and defense during the preparations for Sunday's game?A. Well, it starts first with their featured runner. We have a great deal of respect for Marshawn Lynch and how he plays the game and what he's capable of doing to you. They've got some high pedigree, young guys up front. We are familiar with many of those guys because they've come out of recent drafts and we have held all of those guys in high regard. We're talking about Russell Okung, James Carpenter, John Moffitt and Max Unger. Those are some talented people they have up front. Of course, with the wide receiver position you're concerned about the big body in Mike Williams. We know what Sidney Rice is capable of, should he be cleared to participate and I know Tarvaris Jackson personally and I've got a great deal of respect for him. Defensively, of course, it's always been a signature of Pete Carroll football that they're going to play with great energy and enthusiasm. They run to the ball extremely well. Alan Branch has been doing some great things up front for them, he's been very disruptive. Of course, Aaron Curry is a high pedigree linebacker. We think their young safety tandem is very impressive. The tape that they have out there, we're talking about Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, very good, high quality play from those guys. They're a good football team. Leon Washington is a very dangerous return man – his reputation precedes him, and rightfully so.Q. How do you know Tarvaris Jackson?A. I was in Minnesota when we drafted him.Q. Has Tarvaris Jackson always had toughness as a characteristic?A. He is a legit tough guy. It's not something that he walks around and openly talks about, but if you spend any length of time with the young man you see it. You see it in his every day demeanor, how he approaches the game of football. And I think football players gravitate to that, particularly when you have that at the quarterback position.Q. Is the Seahawks' young offensive line something you can try to exploit with a game plan?A. Well, coming off the kind of performance that we're coming off, I've been more concerned about what it is we're doing and how we do it in our preparedness for the game. That needs to be our focus, not necessarily ways in which we can attack our opponents.Q. Do you see any similarities with Troy Polamalu when you watch Seattle safety Earl Thomas?A. When you turn the tape on, both appear to be moving at a different speed than other men on the tape. His initial quickness, his movement to plays, his instincts – it's unique. I think you could maybe compare them along those lines. Maybe amount of grass that he's capable of covering and how decisive he is when he makes a decision about going after something is very impressive.
Q. Have Troy Polamalu's successes changed how high teams are willing to draft players at the safety position?A. The nature in which offenses attack defenses has redefined that position. I think the day of the box safety is dead. I think they have to be multi-faceted, multi-talented people. They've got to be able to play in the box and be intricate parts of the run game. They've also got to be able to play on the back end and play against receivers. I just think that's the evolution of today's football. Troy, of course, has been the appropriate athlete at that time, but I think it's more about what offenses do, as opposed to being about the physical characteristics of the safeties themselves.Q. Do you feel your team is more prepared this year to deal with the NFL rules regarding increased safety for players?A. I hadn't thought a lot about it. The reality is that the rules are the rules and they set the guidelines and we have to play to them. That's been our mentality regarding it. I don't think we had issue with the rules themselves at all a year ago, it was more about the enforcement of the rules or the fines I think are what some of the guys were involved in.
