What does it mean that the Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-1 in their past four games, generally scoring more, possessing the ball better, winning in situational football more often? It depends on who you ask, but you probably won’t have to look far to find a cynical Steelers fan who will point out the quality of opponent they’ve faced in that span.
It’s true that the Steelers’ wins in this recent run have all come against teams with losing records. That’s just a verifiable fact. But we can also see growth in ways that are independent from the quality of opponent, including a notable reduction in the number of unforced errors they’ve caused.
So has this Steelers team ‘turned the corner’ this year? That’s a question head coach Mike Tomlin was asked. His only response, via the team’s website, was to “Stay tuned”. We will, and based on our numbers in recent weeks, it certainly seems as though you will as well.
For as jaded as we might be sometimes, even to the point of hoping for losses if it means getting the Steelers a higher draft pick, at the end of the day nearly all of us ultimately want to see our team win. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty or if it’s against a playoff team. Winning still feels good, and stacking wins starts to change your perception of things.
Now, I don’t think many are expecting the Steelers to go on a postseason run this year, or even make it to the postseason (a lot needs to go right that they don’t control for them to even qualify), but who isn’t happy to see that things are improving?
Not even the most cynical fan can deny that, irrespective of opponent, for example, running back Najee Harris is running better than he has at any other point this season. The running game in general looks downright competent most of the time and is getting contributions across the board. The offensive line continues to make strides.
And success breeds success. Sometimes you have to manifest what you want. See it to be it. The Steelers over the course of the past month have gotten a much better look at the team that they want to be, and they’re getting closer and closer to actually becoming it.
Yet to hear Tomlin tell it, it was always an external battle, not an internal one, or at least not one he was aware of. “I don’t know that I questioned that belief prior to that”, he said in response to a question about whether or not there was a sense of self-doubt earlier in the season. “There was frustration in terms of not getting the job done, but I don’t know that I questioned belief in oneself from a collective standpoint”.
Inside linebacker Myles Jack later in the day suggested that there was, at least in some parts of the locker room, most likely from young players. But all you need is a bit of veteran leadership to keep that kind of stuff in check, and regardless of what some have to say, they have that.
