The Pittsburgh Steelers were thumped by the Houston Texans on the road in Week Four, which led to head coach Mike Tomlin having major concerns about the lack of physicality and preparedness that his team had leading up to the matchup.
Instead of making wholesale changes after the second blowout loss in the season’s first four games, Tomlin put an emphasis on more padded practice and more intensity and physicality throughout the week leading up to the AFC North showdown with the Baltimore Ravens in Week Five.
Though there is much debate about the padded practices even having an impact on the game on Sunday as the Steelers were very slow out of the gate — again — before making second-half adjustments, former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex certainly believes there was an impact from the padded practice on Wednesday, that being the mindset of the Steelers entering the physical matchup.