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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn't known for throwing shade at other players, but even he hopped on the bandwagon of people taking a dig at Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Leading up to the Steelers' Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings, who will again be relying on Carson Wentz at quarterback, Tomlin made a comparison of his team's game against the Colts last season when discussing the difficulty of facing a backup who might be better from the pocket than the opposing starter:
"I don't necessarily view it as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term, that Carson is playing for them. We were in a similar situation a year ago; we were playing in Indianapolis. Man, and I commented to the guys, 'Keep [Anthony] Richardson upright. Don't put [Joe] Flacco in the game.' And you know, Flacco ended up in the game."
Tomlin was speaking about the way a veteran backup can bring some "intangible components" to the game in a way that a less experienced quarterback is unable to do because they haven't yet learned to do that in the NFL.
In the game that Tomlin is referencing from Week 4 last season, the Steelers weren't exactly stopping Richardson before he left the game late in the first quarter due to a shoulder injury.
The Colts were already up 7-0 and Richardson got them into Steelers territory on their second offensive possession when the injury occurred. Joe Flacco finished off that drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Josh Downs.
Indianapolis went on to beat the Steelers 27-24, with Flacco finishing 16-of-26 for 168 yards and two touchdowns. It's worth noting Richardson was 3-of-4 for 71 yards and had 24 rushing yards in just 13 plays.
The strategy behind Tomlin's comment was sound. Richardson completed 49.3 percent of his attempts with twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (three) in his first three starts before the Steelers game.
It's entirely possible that if Richardson had played the entire game, he would have eventually turned back into the player he was in the first three weeks.
The fact that Indianapolis is off to a better start through three weeks this season with Daniel Jones than it had in any opening three-game stretch with Peyton Manning only makes Richardson look worse.
Wentz will be making his second consecutive start for the Vikings, with J.J. McCarthy recovering from a sprained ankle. Minnesota won Wentz's first game 48-10 over the Cincinnati Bengals, but he only had to throw the ball 20 times because the game got so one-sided early.
The Steelers (2-1) will likely need their offense to step up on Sunday. They haven't gained 300 yards in a game through the first three weeks, though the defense has stepped up with eight takeaways.
Pittsburgh and Minnesota will be playing the NFL's first game in Ireland on Sunday. Croke Park in Dublin will host the matchup between the two teams with a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff time.
Bleacher Report
Leading up to the Steelers' Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings, who will again be relying on Carson Wentz at quarterback, Tomlin made a comparison of his team's game against the Colts last season when discussing the difficulty of facing a backup who might be better from the pocket than the opposing starter:
"I don't necessarily view it as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term, that Carson is playing for them. We were in a similar situation a year ago; we were playing in Indianapolis. Man, and I commented to the guys, 'Keep [Anthony] Richardson upright. Don't put [Joe] Flacco in the game.' And you know, Flacco ended up in the game."
Tomlin was speaking about the way a veteran backup can bring some "intangible components" to the game in a way that a less experienced quarterback is unable to do because they haven't yet learned to do that in the NFL.
In the game that Tomlin is referencing from Week 4 last season, the Steelers weren't exactly stopping Richardson before he left the game late in the first quarter due to a shoulder injury.
The Colts were already up 7-0 and Richardson got them into Steelers territory on their second offensive possession when the injury occurred. Joe Flacco finished off that drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Josh Downs.
Indianapolis went on to beat the Steelers 27-24, with Flacco finishing 16-of-26 for 168 yards and two touchdowns. It's worth noting Richardson was 3-of-4 for 71 yards and had 24 rushing yards in just 13 plays.
The strategy behind Tomlin's comment was sound. Richardson completed 49.3 percent of his attempts with twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (three) in his first three starts before the Steelers game.
It's entirely possible that if Richardson had played the entire game, he would have eventually turned back into the player he was in the first three weeks.
The fact that Indianapolis is off to a better start through three weeks this season with Daniel Jones than it had in any opening three-game stretch with Peyton Manning only makes Richardson look worse.
Wentz will be making his second consecutive start for the Vikings, with J.J. McCarthy recovering from a sprained ankle. Minnesota won Wentz's first game 48-10 over the Cincinnati Bengals, but he only had to throw the ball 20 times because the game got so one-sided early.
The Steelers (2-1) will likely need their offense to step up on Sunday. They haven't gained 300 yards in a game through the first three weeks, though the defense has stepped up with eight takeaways.
Pittsburgh and Minnesota will be playing the NFL's first game in Ireland on Sunday. Croke Park in Dublin will host the matchup between the two teams with a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff time.
Bleacher Report
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