This is the most Tomlin team of his coaching career. Maybe the best - maybe not?
But, this team definitely reflects Tomlin's philosophy better than any he has h
ad yet. Its the workman like: standard is the standard; next man up; ect. ect. attitude that this team exudes. Most importantly it the versatility. No better example of this than how the defense plays. They play the Giants and the D makes sure we don't get run on, even if they do give up some mostly meaningless passing yards . We play the Rats and we are willing to give up running yards to the running backs as long as we can keep the QB from beating us with his legs. If the D is not playing well its Tomlin who makes the adjustments at halftime (can you imagine him doing that when Lebeau was still here). Of course, there is no explanation for the Dallas game, but even "Tomlin games" end with a V this year.
Even on offense, while the running game is below average, if your a defense you still have to account for so many weapons that it is picking your poison.
This really is the team that most closely resembles Tomlin's "Tomlinisims"
No doubt though that if they do win the Super Bowl, somebody somewhere will have to mention that Tomlin won with Cowher's QB.
The 2020 Steelers are doing great because:
1) The opportunistic defense, that makes incredible plays or takes the ball away from opponents at the most critical of moments, energizes the offense off the charts.
2) The energized offense strikes hard and fast at critical moments, taking full advantage of their stacked roster of viable targets.
It's a really good sign when a team performs it's best when it needs to, and it's these critical moments that're defining them. Also, as far as I can see, Bush's absence has not affected the defense in any discernable way, and that says something about depth. Additionally, when the season started I said teams that control Covid-19 the best will ultimately do the best, something which the Steelers have managed to do very well.
“They say you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. So I got rid of everything to see what I had.” ~ Steven Wright
I think another sign of a really good team is having a rather pedestrian outing on the road and still winning by 3+ scores when it's all said and done.