Mike McCarthy Steelers
Mike McCarthy Steelers
After his first loss as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike McCarthy shared his message with his team. Speaking to the media on Monday, he talked about what he wanted his players to know. Beyond talking about the growing pains involved in putting together a new team, it was about looking inward and forward.
“We’re in the business of winning, and it’s about results. Preparation’s important, performance is important, but you have to play above your own standard”, McCarthy said when asked what he told the team following the loss, via the Steelers’ website.
The Steelers kicked off the McCarthy era with a win in Week 1, aided by a T.J. Watt pick-six. This time, it was his offense that allowed the opposing team to score a defensive touchdown. In fact, the offense only produced three points, having missed a field goal. And the one trip inside the red zone resulted in an interception, off the hands of Germie Bernard. But there is a common theme with many of their issues, as the head coach explained.
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“There’s so much made of the competition and the opponent and who’s playing who. … But at the end of the day, our job is to whoop the other guy’s ass”, McCarthy said, presumably a paraphrase of his message in the Steelers’ locker room. “We need to make sure we’re staying in tune with that. It doesn’t matter who they are. Doesn’t matter what number they wear. We understand the challenges that they’re gonna bring to us each and every week, but let’s just make sure we’re cleaning our own house”.
One specific issue McCarthy mentioned after the Steelers’ loss to the Patriots was that he feared he was installing too much volume for the offense to handle at such an early stage. It’s not only a new system, there are a number of new players, including rookies. Even Aaron Rodgers, after the game, talked about needing to do a better job communicating with the coaches about what was working and what wasn’t.
Following these remarks, Mike McCarthy made crystal clear that he doesn’t believe the Steelers have a talent problem. While he wouldn’t completely rule out making some personnel changes down the line, he believes they simply need to improve. And that starts with himself, putting his team in a better position to execute.
Clearly, he believes he is doing something wrong. He cited repeated mistakes occurring between both games, saying, “You’ve got to pay attention to that” when that occurs. “Football’s not perfect, but you train in the mindset of perfection to achieve your goal”.
Up next for the Steelers is McCarthy’s first AFC North game, facing the 2-0 Bengals. Having grown up a Yinzer, he knows what this rivalry means. Right now, it means early control of the division, even if it is too early to mean much. But 2-1 would sure look a lot better than 1-2, especially going into a short week with another divisional game. Come out of next week 3-1 with two AFC North wins, and things could be looking a lot different.