Entering the Week Six bye week, the Pittsburgh Steelers somehow, some way find themselves in a rather familiar position: first in the AFC North.
The Steelers moved into the top slot in the rugged AFC North after a wild Week Five win at Acrisure Stadium over the Baltimore Ravens, They pulled out a late 17-10 win that featured a punt block for a safety, an interception in the end zone from rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr., a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kenny Pickett to wide receiver George Pickens, and the Ravens dropping seven total passes after entering the week without a drop on the season.
For Sirius XM sports talk host and Pittsburgh-area native Scott Ferrall, it is shocking that Pittsburgh finds itself in the top spot in the AFC North, especially considering he believes that the Steelers “are not very good.”
“No one could have predicted this, honestly. They’re really not that good. Their offense is anemic,” Ferrall said, according to video via his Twitter page. “They haven’t had a 400-yard game in three years, and again it’s another non-400-yard game. Teams that don’t rack up yards and points in the NFL aren’t in first place, okay? That’s all there is to it. We’ve been bashing this team, I’ve been disappointed in them, and I’m a huge Steeler fan. It is what it is.”
Though many expected the Steelers coming into the season to be quite competitive and potentially compete for the AFC North crown, what the Steelers have shown on the field in the first five weeks of the season — at least offensively — has been a massive disappointment.
Without some incredible defensive performances in Weeks Two and Five against the Cleveland Browns and Ravens in AFC North play, the Steelers could very well be 1-4 as the offense has done very, very little.
Entering the Week Five bye, Pittsburgh is near the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category: 30th in yards per game (286.2), 27th in passing yards per game (187.8), 30th in rushing yards per game (80.4), and tied for 30th in the NFL in points per game at just 15.8.
It is woeful on offense and there’s no real signs that things are going to somehow get better under third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Yet, the Steelers are 3-2. They are good at the rock fights in football games, as former NFL defensive end Chris Long pointed out earlier in the week. Pittsburgh has a style that it wants to meet every single week. It might not match what the rest of the league is doing in today’s era of football, but Pittsburgh wants to run the football, play great defense, force teams into mistakes and take advantage of short fields.
More often than not this season, that style has worked, almost improbably in some cases.
The bye week comes at a good time though. It’s a chance for the Steelers to reset, figure out what works and doesn’t work offensively with some self-scouting, get guys back from injury and rest up some others dealing with bumps and bruises, and then potentially go on a run in the second half of the season.
They might not be very good now, but they’re good where it matters: within the division, sitting atop the AFC North after five weeks.
