Head Coach Mike Tomlin
(opening statement)
“Man, it’s great to be AFC North champs. We tip our cap to the Ravens, they’re a tough, tough opponent, not only today, but always. Because our goals are very similar. I like the mentality that the guys showed. We knew it was going to be a tough football game. It always is. We’ve been in games like this this season, we’ve persevered in some and not in others. But we’ve grown from all of our experiences. And it was just great to see the no-blink mentality, the competitive spirit, tonight.”
“We’ll evaluate it like we always do, but today we just want to enjoy this victory. It’s significant, obviously. We punched our ticket. And that’s an awesome thing.”
(on why the offense came alive in the fourth quarter)
“We were shooting ourselves in the foot, to be honest with you. In the first half, we were penalized on possession downs that stopped drives, OPI [offensive pass interference], we had a false start that took a third-and-manageable to a third-and-long. Those are significant downs. And then in the second half, we had a couple of turnovers. When we stopped kicking our own butts, we did what it is that we do. So I don’t know that anything changed, other than that. We stopped kicking our own butts.”
(on if he had any doubt that Ben Roethlisberger would bounce back)
“No. I did not. I didn’t want time to become a factor. And that’s what I was talking to those guys about, the touchdown drive that brought the game to three. I was talking to those guys prior to the drive. We had to get points in that drive. If we didn’t, then we were going to allow time to become a factor.”
QB Ben Roethlisberger
(on what changed in the fourth quarter when they came alive on offense)
“I don’t know. We just went into attack mode. We went all no-huddle and we were throwing it and just making things happen. You know, guys made plays and I just threw it to the right guys.”
(on coming back from a 4-5 record to win the division title)
“It’s pretty special the way we won it. Especially after feeling the way I felt at a certain point in that game and feeling like you let guys down and you blew it. So to come back and win it is pretty special.
(on how ready the Steelers are for the playoffs)
“I think today showed some resolve. I think we showed some fight, no quit. When you throw that second pick and they are in the end zone already, you know you never heard anything from the defense. You never saw them get down. You never saw them complain about the offense. We just stick together. Same thing when they scored late. You never saw the offense point fingers at each other. This is a total team win and even the special teams [getting pressure on their field-goal miss]. Just awesome.”
WR Antonio Brown
(on what happened on the final touchdown)
“That was a great throw by Ben, trusting me to come in there and not stop. I was just running to the ball, going in there and take the contact, and then being aware to get the ball over the goal line.”
(on what is going through his mind on that play)
“I have to get the ball in. I have to get the ball in. I know I’m going to take some contact, and I knew after that I was going to be able to get the ball in.”
(on Le’Veon Bell predicting that Brown would score the game-winning touchdown)
“He actually did. We were over there by the heaters, and we were trying to drive. He said, ‘A.B., you have to go down there and get the game-winner.’ I’m just grateful that I was able to [do that].”
(on what changed in the fourth quarter)
“You just have to stay simple. Over the course of the game, there are going to be ups and downs. I might not get the ball as much as I want to, but just stay positive. We have a great quarterback. We don’t blink. They’re always looking for opportunities, and they found a way to get me the ball.”
RB Le’Veon Bell
(on what it means to win the AFC North title)
“It is the first step. Obviously, we played well enough for us to win today, but, obviously not up to par to how we want to play. A lot of turnovers. We were hurting ourselves. I had a false start at the beginning of the game. Just little things like that, we need to overcome and get better at. But I think this team overcame a lot of adversity and I’m ecstatic right now. We did it on Christmas day with everybody watching, so people know what they have to deal with.”
(on the team’s resolve in the fourth quarter)
“That goes to the credit of the whole team [and] us not giving up. We knew the Ravens were going to be a challenge. Those guys have been playing well all year. They really had our number the last couple of times we played them. So we knew it was going to be a challenge. I’m glad we overcame it, got the game-winning touchdown and got the win.”
(on whether the game plan was to his liking)
“Yeah, of course. As long as we put up enough points to win, it’s always going to be suited to my liking. I didn’t really have a lot of carries, but 20 is a nice amount. And the way we got it – we kind of sprinkled it in and ran heavy at first [and] kind of sprinkled it in throughout the game. Those guys got really up on their toes and tried to stop the run, so we opened them up with the pass a little bit and hit them with a couple of draws. We broke a couple of long gains. I think that’s what overcame the run game.”
