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'Unknown' Has Steelers' Mike Tomlin Anxious for Season Opener

The Pittsburgh Steelers are less than a week from kickoff, and despite all the challenges, nerves and speculations, Mike Tomlin is excited.

PITTSBURGH -- Welcome back to Tomlin Tuesdays! The Steelers head coach took the Zoom podium for his first press conference of the regular season to discuss the team's Week 1 opponent. 

There's plenty of uncertainty for the NFL this season. For the Steelers, that unknown begins at MetLife Stadium on Monday night when they face a New York Giants team with a new head coach and offensive and defensive coordinators. 

"First thing you have to acknowledge is the pandemic and the challenges that it creates. We're speculating some when it pertains to some of their schematics. We're speculating some, particularly when it pertains to their division of labor and their utilization of people.

"They got a new coaching staff. Personality is not necessarily revealed. Although, a lot of their significant coaches in terms of coordinators have NFL resumes and experience that we can glean certain information from.

"There is some concern about the unknown when you go into an opener in this environment."

Tomlin said the team is comfortable with the fact that there's "unknown" for every NFL team. However, he admitted it'll be easier for coach Joe Judge to gameplan against the Steelers than it will be for the Steelers to gameplan against Judge. 

"There's more definitive speculation when you face a group that has continuity. Particularly continuity among key decision-makers and the coaching staff," Tomlin said. "To be quiet honest with you, it's going to be easier for Joe Judge and company to forecast what our ball is going to be on offense and defense and special teams because of that continuity."

Tomlin said he expects to have jitters at MetLife Stadium. It's nothing new for the head coach, but it'll be a different anxiousness when he begins to lead his team during a much different NFL season. 

"There are nerves and jitters every time we walk out of tunnels, speaking for myself. Especially the first time you walk out in a season or the first time you walk out in a circumstance such as this with no preseason," Tomlin said. "I think I'm really focusing my energies on using that angst or that anxiety in an appropriate way and working through it and finding comfort through work. That's what I'm going to challenge my team to do. I'm not going to pretend like it doesn't exist."  

But through all the nerves, Tomlin and the Steelers are less than one week away from kickoff and excited for it.

"We have a group that's appreciative of the opportunity to play," Tomlin said. "There's one thing that the offseason has taught us all if we didn't know that already, these opportunities are precious. They're not to be taken for granted. We're really blessed to have an opportunity to put football on." 

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.