Tomlin turns to Adams at NT

“I thought he controlled the game. As I mentioned after the game, I thought in the second half, he controlled the game, and we didn’t in all phases,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t do enough to minimize him. We didn’t do enough on offense to possess the ball and minimize his impact on it. We didn’t do enough splash on special teams. Often times, the team that loses on Thursday nights is the team whose defense plays the most snaps, and ours did. He had a lot to do with it.”

The result is a 1-2 start going into the game against the Jets (1-2). And an angry, frustrated team and coaching staff.

“I know that we’re all pretty hacked off that we haven’t won the past two games,” Tomlin said. “We realize that football is our game, and our business is winning. So, we’ve got to get back to business.”

The Steelers signed Adams Nov. 30 of last year off the practice squad of the New Orleans Saints with Alualu out for the season with a fractured ankle. The team had tried a number of different players at nose tackle before settling on Adams, a former third-round draft pick of the Packers.

Adams wound up appearing in five games, starting four, for the Steelers last season, but slipped back into a reserve role this season when the 35-year-old Alualu returned. Adams also suffered an ankle injury in training camp that slowed his progress during training camp, but made it back at the end of the preseason.

Adams is more of a penetrator at nose tackle than Alualu, offering the Steelers perhaps more big-play ability from the position.

“You could say that, but not significantly, no,” Tomlin said when asked if Adams is a different style of player than Alualu. “He’s capable of doing the things we ask him to do. He’s played a lot of football for us. He played a lot, started a lot for us last year. He missed a lot of time during team development, and that probably slowed his progress. Since he’s been back from injury, we’ve just seen a real uptick in his consistency and performance.”

The Steelers could…