Head coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t typically reveal if any win has more significance than others. Sunday was a typical day for the man in charge of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During his postgame press conference, Tomlin received a question about whether beating the New England Patriots at Foxboro, Mass. had any extra meaning to him.
Tomlin paused briefly and perhaps fought back a longer response. But he then delivered a “canned” answer.
“It’s good to win in the NFL,” said Tomlin while nodding his head.
It wouldn’t be shocking, though, if that’s not really the case for the 18-year head coach. Despite a .629 regular season win percentage, Tomlin entered Sunday’s game with a 3-10 record, including the playoffs, against the Patriots.
With a 21-14 victory in Week 3, the Steelers snapped a three-game overall losing streak and four-game skid at Foxboro versus New England.
By beating the Patriots, the Steelers also improved to 2-1 this season.
Mike Tomlin Earns Rare Victory Against Patriots
Tomlin’s 3-9 regular season mark versus the Patriots and 1-5 record at Gillette Stadium before Sunday all came against Bill Belichick. But prior to Week 3, Tomlin held a 3-0 record against Mike Vrabel.
The Steelers remained perfect against Vrabel-coached teams with Sunday’s win.
When he was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, Vrabel usually had his team prepared to play mistake-free football. But on Sunday, Tomlin’s Steelers forced the Patriots to make numerous errors.
New England committed five turnovers and seven penalties in Sunday’s contest. Two of New England’s giveaways came inside the Steelers 5-yard line.
“We spend a lot of time on our ball-search culture,” Tomlin said. “But it’s just words. It’s an agenda.
“The effort of the guys makes it real. Not only on Sunday but over the course of the week. It felt like we were heading toward a good game in that area just based on the way we worked this week.”
Steelers Earn First Win at Foxboro Since 2008
Ironically, the Steelers also had five takeaways in their last win at Foxboro. That was all the way back in Tomlin’s second season as Pittsburgh’s head coach.
In Week 13 of that season, the Steelers not only beat New England but delivered a rare blowout loss to Belichick.
With Tom Brady injured, Matt Cassel started behind center for the Patriots. Cassel completed just 19 of 39 passes for 169 yards with two interceptions. He sustained five sacks and lost two fumbles.
The Patriots actually led the game by a touchdown midway through the second quarter. But the Steelers scored the final 30 points of the game to win 33-10.
Eventual Defensive Player of the Year winner James Harrison had 10 combined tackles and two sacks, both of which resulted in forced fumbles. Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu had an interception with four pass defenses.
Similarly, Pittsburgh’s defensive stars of today delivered in Week 3. Cameron Heyward had a sack and pass defense, which led to an interception. T.J. Watt posted his first two sacks of the season, including one on New England’s final drive.
Behind those efforts, the Steelers defeated the Patriots for the first time since December 16, 2018. The 17-10 Steelers victory over New England that day occurred at then-named Heinz Field.