Several times during Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin’s Press Conference on the southside today, Coach Mike referred to the Ravens as the “Number one defense” in the NFL. He had a little gleam in his eye, and said it with enough forcefulness that you couldn’t miss it. There’s some skullduggery afoot, I’m thinking.
Indeed it is true, statistically speaking, that the #1 Ravens defense holds the numero uno spot in the weekly NFL stat department. The Ravens are #1 in yards allowed (244.3), #1 in passing yards (116.7) which, coincidentally enough, makes them …guess…NUMBER 1!
Okay Steelers fans, are you irritated enough? You see how many times I’ve pointed out the Ravens defensive rank? My guess is that somebody else is rankling the ire of a few Steelers on the defensive side of the ball by doing the same thing I’m doing right now, only they’ll hear about it all week long.
Coach Mike doesn’t just talk to the press when he makes those statements, he’s also throwing a little coal in the fire of the locomotive engine that is the Steelers defense come this Sunday. Players read the papers too.
The Steelers defense is a very proud unit that considers itself the number one “D” in the NFL landscape.
The crux of the message in print will be the same in spoken word which, I’m guessing, will be the theme of the week when Coach Mike talks to his defense. Which might be something along the lines of;
“Fellas, who’s got the #1 defense in the NFL? Show me on Sunday, don’t tell me on Tuesday.”
