Tomlin: Steelers want 'stench' of losing 'off of us'

PITTSBURGH — While the Bengals will be fighting for a playoff spot in Saturday night’s regular-season finale at Pittsburgh, the Steelers enter the prime-time rematch with just as much motivation to secure a victory.

With their playoff berth locked up, the Steelers are hoping to snap a three-game losing streak in the regular-season finale Saturday night against the Bengals.

“Certainly, they’re a motivated group trying to play their way into this tournament, but certainly we’re a motivated group to be quite honest with you,” coach Mike Tomlin said of the Bengals on Monday.

“We got to get the stench of the last few performances off of us, and there’s no better way to do that than a home divisional win versus a formidable group going into the tournament, and so that’s our mentality as we stand here today.”

The Steelers, however, might wind up with little to play for by the time they kick off against the Bengals on Saturday night. The Baltimore Ravens could secure the AFC North crown and the home playoff game that comes with it by beating the Cleveland Browns in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC). If that happens, the Steelers would be guaranteed to go on the road for the wild-card round, no matter the outcome of Saturday night’s game. But Tomlin said he’s not thinking about how he would manage playing time in the event of a Ravens win.

“I haven’t pondered that at all to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said of potentially resting starters. “That might be a thought for later in the week, but as I mentioned, I think it’s significant how we go into this tournament, and so I doubt that I’ll be in that mentality that you mentioned.”

Even if the game’s outcome ends up not drastically affecting the Steelers’ playoff seeding, ending the losing streak and changing the team’s momentum entering the postseason is top of mind for Tomlin’s players.

“We know that we have to just win this game to get some momentum going into the playoffs,” pass rusher Alex Highsmith said. “Ultimately that’s all we can do at this point. We just got to control, we control and that’s winning games.

“… We can’t get engulfed by [losing]. We just got to rally around each other in this locker room and know the guys that we have in this locker room and know the talent that we have.”

Before dispersing for a mini-bye week following their Christmas Day loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Steelers convened at their practice facility Thursday for a frank, transparent conversation.

Through a series of meetings and film studies, the team worked to identify and correct common themes that have persisted throughout their three-game skid. For the defense, which ranks among the worst in the league during that stretch by giving up an average of 30 points and 402 yards per game, that meant getting on the same page about in-game communication and staying assignment-sound.

“It’s the same thing we’ve been preaching,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said about the message of that meeting. “Guys just got to do their job. You got to want to do it, and it’s just that simple. I think especially with this stretch, if we want to be great, that’s what it’s going to take.

“I think everybody in this facility wants to be great, so I don’t think it’s none of that going on. I think that we just got to all lock in and just do our job.”

After the loss to the Chiefs, Queen, Highsmith and others were vocal in their frustration about a lack of communication — and in some cases, the want-to from teammates. Tomlin said he didn’t directly address the defensive airing of grievances in the Thursday meetings.

“They bickered because they care, and we weren’t playing well,” Tomlin said. “Oftentimes the solutions are born out of conflict and confrontation, particularly when you’re in the business that we’re in, and so we’re not going to let an issue like that be a big issue. It’s really not. Guys are expressing truth and working to seek solutions, and sometimes emotions are involved in that. Most of the time when you get out of those circumstances, you’re able to move on as a collective and I feel like we certainly have done that.”

Queen agreed with his coach and explained the emotion behind his postgame comments during the losing streak, including after the loss to the Ravens when he said, “If you’re supposed to be in a certain position, you’ve got to be in that f—ing position. It’s that simple.”

“I do care a lot, and I know I kind of went about it the wrong way sometimes with Coach T and stuff,” Queen said Monday. “For me it’s just, I care. I know what this team could be. I know this defense could be with the players that we got. So anytime you see any of that going on, it’s just because we care. It’s never personal.”