To be honest, the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t playing up to their standards over the past few weeks, so nobody should have been too upset with some of the comments that were made by the media.
Aaron Rodgers was injured and not playing well, the defense hadn’t looked great, and they lost some games they should have competed a bit better in.
However, the Steelers bounced back nicely in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens, retaking the crown as the leader in the AFC North with a 7-6 record and now holding a head-to-head win over the Ravens. They’ll play Baltimore again in the final game of the regular season, which looks like it will have major implications on the standings.
Speaking to reporters about some of the outside noise, Rodgers wasn’t too happy, and I don’t think it was fair for him to say what he did to the media.
"Means maybe you guys would shut the hell up for a week," Rodgers said, per the team's transcript.
Rodgers wasn’t playing well, and while I understand this is the nature of business in the NFL, he can’t worry about what the outside noise is saying.
When speaking about that, Mike Tomlin was very happy with what Rodgers did all week, but I still don’t think he should have made the comments he did to the media.
"He just brought that approach all week," Tomlin said of Rodgers. "I think oftentimes game day is indicative of what transpires during the week. I just thought he had can-do attitude, man. He was wired all week. Texted me after hours, et cetera. But I just appreciate his mindset and what he brought into the building today."
It sounds like the outside noise got to the Steelers a good bit.
They can come out and state that they’re not listening to it, but for Rodgers, Tomlin and DK Metcalf to even bring it up shows they were at least a little upset with how things unfolded.
"We knew not to pay attention to any outside noise," Metcalf said after a season-high 148 receiving-yard day. "Coach T is a great leader for us, and he's done nothing but take the bullets for us. Even when we're high and when we're low, he's always come in every day, has been steady and stayed the same, always motivated us to always play our best ball, and that's what he did last week.”