Mike Tomlin And Steelers Players Disagree On Motivation Heading Into Crucial Browns Game

Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh Steelers disagree on motivation

Getty Image / Joe Sargent


  • Head Coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Cleveland Browns this week for the first time since a brutal playoffs loss to the Browns
  • Earlier this week, a Steelers player was outspoken about using that loss as motivation and now Mike Tomlin is contradicting his own player
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This Sunday will mark the first time that Head Coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Cleveland Browns since a 48-37 NFL playoffs loss in the Wild Card round back on January 10th. That was a tough loss for Steelers Nation to digest and this Sunday’s game will be intense.

The 3-3 Steelers travel to the 4-3 Browns with both teams chasing the Bengals and Ravens for the division. Earlier this week, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron was outspoken about using the NFL playoffs loss as extra motivation against the Browns.

Eric Ebron had this to say:

The logic checks out. Any NFL fan can see why a difficult playoffs loss would provide extra motivation in a game against a division rival. But Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is disagreeing with Eric Ebron’s assessment of the situation.

Tomlin went on the record and called that sort of thing “low hanging fruit” and “irrelevant”. He went further and said that a playoffs loss to the Browns isn’t going to be a “rallying cry” this weekend.

For what it’s worth, there are just 7 rookies listed on the Steelers 53-man active roster. What seems obvious to me at this point is Tomlin doesn’t want to empower the Browns but he’s out of his mind if he thinks a loss to any team doesn’t motivate players the next time they face that team.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a bye week. That’s the perfect time to face a divisional rival when the guys can get some rest ahead of time. The Steelers opened up as 3-point underdogs and the over/under was set at 42.5 but those are constantly moving so don’t make too much of that early week information.

As for Mike Tomlin’s comments, I said what I said above. I think he’s afraid to empower the Browns and he’s lying to himself he really thinks players aren’t motivated by losses.