Mike Tomlin Says Midseason Surge Won’t Come Easy vs. Colts

Mike Tomlin

The Steelers overcame a 13-point deficit to win a Monday night game against Houston that, if they’d lost, would have dropped them under .500 after seven games for a second straight season.

Now, after staging the NFL’s quickest three-touchdown scoring outburst in a dozen years, the Steelers (4-3) have a chance to make a midseason surge with two more home games upcoming against the Colts (5-2) and Ravens (5-2).

But coach Mike Tomlin said the Colts offer a significant challenge coming off five consecutive victories behind the NFL’s passing leader, third-year quarterback Andrew Luck (2,331 yards passing, 19 touchdowns).

Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference that the Colts can “score in bunches”€ – but the Steelers did the same thing against the Texans in their 30-23 victory Monday night at Heinz Field.

According to Stats LLC, the Steelers became the first NFL team to score 24 points in less than three minutes since the Seahawks in 2002 against the Vikings. The Steelers trailed 13-0 before putting up 24 points at the end of the first half in only 2 minutes, 54 seconds – with three touchdowns in 73 seconds. The Vikings scored four touchdowns in 1 minute, 47 seconds.

Antonio Brown also became only the third player in NFL history to catch at least nine passes in a game and throw a touchdown pass. James Wilder and Jerry Rice were the others.

Other updates from Tomlin:

– Right tackle Marcus Gilbert will go through the normal concussion protocol after being taken out of the game and replaced by Mike Adams, who hadn’t played all season.

– He won’t comment on his players’ social media posts. On Twitter, Brown posted a postgame vulgarity aimed at the officials after having a touchdown catch reversed upon review.

– He wouldn’t confirm what quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said, that Tomlin specifically called the Antonio Brown pass play.

– He’s not concerned about starting wide receiver Markus Wheaton, who didn’t have a catch and was targeted only two times, a week after making only four catches on 11 targets against the Browns.

– Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier (right knee) likely will return Sunday after missing four games. Safety Shamarko Thomas (shoulder) also could be ready after not playing Monday.