Steelers Insider Shares Strange Mike Tomlin Belief

In light of the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive struggles since Ben Roethlisberger retired, head coach Mike Tomlin has remained steadfast in his beliefs and made a conscious effort to avoid risks.

In an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, Steelers insider Mark Kaboly stated that Tomlin prefers the offense stay away from throwing over the middle of the field in an effort to minimize turnovers.

"Mike Tomlin's been very transparent with that. Once you throw the ball over the middle, a lot of bad things can happen. He's said that before," Kaboly said. "I don't know if he's said that publicly, but now it is publicly. He's said that before. So I mean, that tells you the mindset right there. He wants to stay away from turnovers, and he believes the majority of turnovers do come from the middle of the field, throwing the ball."

Tomlin's beliefs are likely circumstantial to some extent, in that he'd loosen up and grant enhanced freedom to an offensive coordinator or quarterback he feels have earned the benefit of the doubt or are more proven commodities.

Avoiding the middle of the field worked to some extent in 2024, as Pittsburgh threw the third-fewest interceptions in the league with six. It also logged the fourth-most rushing attempts, which limited the potential for defensive takeaways through the air and was almost certainly a product of misgivings about the team's passing game.

Justin Fields, according to Pro Football Focus, threw 49 passes between the numbers this past season. In contrast, he logged 98 attempts outside the numbers.

As for Russell Wilson, 184 of his throws went to the outside while 134 were over the middle.

The Steelers averaged the sixth-fewest passing yards per contest at 192.0, so perhaps their philosophy is a bit flawed. That's not to say that their shortcomings completely fall on not attacking the middle of the field, but it'll be interesting to see if Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith switch things up moving forward.

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