Even with the entire AFC North winning in Week Six with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a bye week, the Black and Gold still found a way to win.
At least, when it comes to one outlet’s NFL Power Rankings.
Despite being off and sitting at 3-2 on the season, the Steelers moved up seven spots in the latest power rankings from The Athletic Tuesday morning. They jumped from No. 20 to No. 13, thanks in large part to previous wins over the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, who both won big games in Week Six, putting the league on notice.
Baltimore traveled to London and beat the Tennessee Titans, 24-16, while the Browns hosted the San Francisco 49ers and took down the league’s top team with another great defensive performance and enough plays made by third-string quarterback PJ Walker.
With a win over both teams, the Steelers benefited from the wins, at least in the power rankings.
“Two of three wins coming against division rivals is keeping Pittsburgh alive in the AFC North despite an offense that ranks 30th in scoring (15.8). Defensively, it’s been business as usual for the Steelers. T.J. Watt is on pace for 27 sacks, which would break the league’s single-season record he shares with Michael Strahan (22 1/2),” The Athletic’s Josh Kendall writes regarding the Steelers’ climb up the power rankings ahead of Week Seven.
The wins over the Browns and Ravens are looking better and better by the week, which is great news for the Steelers.
Those two wins came via great defensive performances though, which is a bit concerning for the Steelers moving forward. The offense remains a mess, though there is the chance that the Steelers come out of the Week Six bye week having corrected some things on that side of the football, much like they did last season, going on a run in the second half.
But make no mistake about it: this team will go as its defense goes. If they continue to be the world beaters that they’ve been early in the season, outside of matchups against San Francisco and Houston, this team should have a winning record and be right in the mix in the AFC playoff picture, let alone the AFC North divisional race.
That said, moving up seven spots on a bye week in the power rankings seems a bit absurd, especially passing the likes of the Houston Texans and New York Jets at this juncture.
ESPN didn’t move the Steelers at all in its latest power rankings, keeping Pittsburgh at No. 15 following the idle week, though ESPN.com’s Brooke Pryor did highlight the Steelers’ defense, much like The Athletic did.
“We get it, the Steelers’ offense is bad. But what isn’t is the pass-rush tandem of Watt and Highsmith, the latter of whom got a four-year, $68 million contract in the offseason. While Watt’s eight sacks is tied for the most in the NFL through six weeks, Highsmith is also putting up solid numbers,” Pryor writes. “Against the Ravens, Highsmith generated a career-high 11 pressures on 35 pass rushes, tied for the most pressures generated by any player in a game this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
“The pair also scored two of the Steelers’ seven total touchdowns this season.”
Together, Watt and Highsmith are giving offenses fits. Watt is on pace to shatter the NFL’s single-season sacks record that he currently holds with New York Giants’ Hall of Famer Michael Strahan. Already with 8.0 sacks through his first five games, Watt finds himself on a 27-sack pace. That is incredible.
On the other side, Highsmith has just two sacks, but he is generating consistent pressure, has forced two big fumbles on strip-sacks and has a pick-six to his credit. He’s a star in the making.
If the two can stay healthy, there will won’t be much slowing them down moving forward, which will give the Steelers’ defense a fighting chance each and every week. If the offense can just improve to average, Pittsburgh will be a tough team to deal with. For now though, things are rather one-sided, putting a lot of pressure on the defense.
