Pat Freiermuth shares what makes Mike Tomlin special

Count Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth among the many players who adore playing for Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin has gained a reputation as a players-coach over his time in Pittsburgh, and Freiermuth backed up that theory during an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take earlier this week. Speaking with the famed Big Cat and PFT Commenter, the former Penn State star explained what makes Tomlin special.

“I think like, the biggest thing that I enjoy is like, there’s no gray area at all,” explained the young pass catcher. “Like he’ll be in team meetings and be like, ‘Listen, if you don’t win this matchup, we’re going to lose the game.’ So he like, as a professional athlete, like you love that like, ‘Okay, this is what I need to do to win the game,’ and I think that’s why everything’s been so successful.

“Everybody takes it so personal. Like that matchup going into the game. He’s a hell of a — love him. Love him.”

You don’t go .500 or over every season as a coach without being pretty dang beloved by your players. That’s been evident throughout Tomlin’s career, and it’s showing no signs of changing moving forward.

The Pittsburgh Steelers can surprise some people next season by their success, and Pat Freiermuth and Mike Tomlin will be right in the middle of it.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 playoff chances revealed

Meanwhile, postseason percentages have been revealed for Pat Freiermuth’s Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the 2023 season, for better or for worse.

The Steelers are looking to build on their nine-win season in 2022 — but based on some of their percentages, Pittsburgh’s season could come down to how well they perform against divisional opponents. 

Here are the main percentages, courtesy of BetPennsylvania.com.

• Playoff chances — 43.5 percent
• Miss playoffs — 56.5 percent
• Super Bowl chances — 2 percent
• Win AFC — 3.8 percent
• Win AFC North — 18.2 percent

“I calculated the Steelers playoff picture using the implied probability of the team’s odds to make the postseason. For this particular chart’s data, I used DraftKings Sportsbook PA. Converting the Steelers’ current odds of +130 to make the playoffs provided the 43.5% chance highlighted above,” BetPennsylvania’s Michelle Magdziuk wrote on how she went about calculating the percentages.

Pittsburgh’s 18.2 percent chance to win the division is the lowest out of all AFC North teams, though the Steelers has had a winning record in every season since 2003 — giving them a fairly decent shot to make the playoffs based on history, especially under head coach Mike Tomlin. 

Still, the Steelers have missed the postseason in three of the last six seasons and haven’t won a playoff game at all in that span — Pittsburgh’s longest winless streak since the 1970s. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Steelers are favorites to win 10 of their 17 matchups during the 2023 season. More often than not, a 10-7 record is decent enough to earn a spot in the postseason.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.