Dec 27, 2016 4 min read

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When it comes to his critics, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin typically takes the high road.

That was not the case, however, Tuesday when he was asked about comments made by former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

Tomlin said he thinks the term “great” gets thrown around too much when it comes to talking about coaches, mentioning he feels Bill Belichick of New England and San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich are deserving of the moniker, but Bradshaw’s critic of his coaching style went too far.

“Terms ike cheerleader guy, to me, fall outside the bounds of critique or criticism,” Tomlin said. “They probably fall more toward the area of disrespect and unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan. Particularly a Hollywood Henderson fan.”

Henderson, of course, famously feuded with Bradshaw in 1979 in the leadup to the Super Bowl, saying Bradshaw was so dumb he couldn’t spell cat if you spotted him the c and a.

Tomlin’s response came after Bradshaw said last week on a national television appearance that Tomlin isn’t a great coach at all. “He’s a nice coach. To me, I’ve said this, he’s really a great cheerleader guy,” Bradshaw said on Fox Sport 1. “I don’t know what he does. I don’t think he is a great coach at all. His name never even pops up in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL.”

At least part of Bradshaw’s statement is correct. He really doesn’t know what Tomlin does because he rarely comes back to Pittsburgh. He has very little contact with the organization.

Heck, he has very little contact with many of his former teammates.

But Bradshaw’s opinion is his opinion and he’s entitled to it.

Tomlin, however, is correct when he says the cheerleader comment was over the line.

@ Tomlin said Tuesday that Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and Maurkice Pouncey will likely sit out the team’s regular season finale against Cleveland.

As he noted, he’s gone into playoff games without Brown, Bell and Pouncey in the past and it’s not as much fun as it would be to have those players on the field.

Bell, in particular, will be a blessing to have in a postseason game. He has yet to appear in one in his career, missing the end of each of the previous two seasons.

@ All of that said, Tomlin said the Steelers are treating Sunday’s game against Cleveland the same as any other. Pittsburgh will play to win the game.

At the same time, they’ll also try to be smart about things, knowing they can’t improve their playoff lot, and can, in fact, only hurt themselves with injuries.

Don’t expect to see injured defensive end Stephon Tuitt or tight end Ladarius Green back for this game, either.

@ The Steelers will likely host Miami in the opening round of the playoffs. I’m hearing that game will probably be played Saturday night.

That would actually be a benefit to the Steelers, who finish at home this week. Miami is at New England Sunday for its regular season finale and would then have a five-day work week in which to prepare.

Same thing goes for the other playoff possibility, Kansas City. The Chiefs are at San Diego Sunday.

If both teams win or lose, the Steelers host the Dolphins. If Miami wins and Kansas City loses, the Steelers get the Chiefs.

@ Tomlin also was asked about what might have happened had Antonio Brown not gotten into the end zone on his 4-yard TD game-winning touchdown catch.

Ben Roethlisberger said earlier on his weekly call in to KDKA-FM that he felt, with nine seconds remaining, the Steelers would have had enough time to get set and run a QB sneak on the game’s final play.

Tomlin, however, simply said that, “We’ll never know, will we?”