Right now, nothing that the Pittsburgh Steelers are doing can be considered pretty. Everything feels messy, ugly, and unorganized.
Yet, all that matters is that they’re 3-2 and head into the Week Six bye week atop the AFC North after a wild 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
The Steelers leaned heavily on their defense throughout the rivalry matchup, got a big play from their special teams and took advantage of some Baltimore mistakes down the stretch, making just enough plays offensively to grind out the unconventional 17-10 win.
As head coach Mike Tomlin has stated in the past, they won’t apologize for winning, even if it’s ugly.
Former Steelers Hall of Fame head coach and current NFL Today on CBS analyst Bill Cowher defended the style of play that Pittsburgh has shown throughout the early portion of the season, stating that what the Steelers are doing most importantly is winning.
“They’re winning ugly but the one thing that they’re doing is winning. They’re not beating themselves,” Cowher said on Sunday on CBS after the Steelers’ 17-10 win over the Ravens. “That always gives you a chance to win when you can play defense and you have one of the top kickers in the National Football League.”
Winning is all that matters in the NFL, no matter how it looks.
That might not sound all that comforting to fans as the Steelers are a rollercoaster ride weekly and struggle mightily offensively seemingly each and every week even in an offense-driven league with rules that favor scoring points and gaining yards in bunches, but it’s reality.
These are the types of games that Tomlin wants the Steelers to play. Lean on that star-studded defense, get after the quarterback, rack up sacks and force turnovers, create short fields and take advantage offensively.
That last part is still a major work in progress, but the blueprint to success is there for the Steelers. As Cowher points out, it helps that they’re not beating themselves — for the most part.
Even though the Steelers had a turnover on Sunday on Gunner Olszewski’s punt return in the fourth quarter, the Steelers avoided the costly turnover offensively. Quarterback Kenny Pickett took care of the football, and the Steelers won the weighty downs, converting 6-of-15 third downs, holding the Ravens to just 5-of-14 and 0-of-2 on fourth down in the win.
How the Steelers are winning games right now seems pretty unsustainable unless the offense really gets into gear and complements a defense that is one of the league’s very best. It’s quite ugly right now for the Steelers, but 3-2 and atop the AFC North entering the bye looks mighty fine.
