The Pittsburgh Steelers have reached the midway point of the season entering Week 10, and somehow they are 5-3, in the playoff picture and in contention for the AFC North division title despite having one of the league’s worst offenses in every major statistical category.
At two games over .500, the Steelers have done some things well and others, well, not so well. They are finding ways to win games though, and that’s all that matters. Or, at least, that’s all that should matter.
That’s not the case though, particularly in the midseason grades from CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr Wednesday morning.
For Kerr, the Steelers earned a “B” grade through the first eight games of the season. While that’s a passing grade — and a good one — Kerr has real concerns about the Steelers in the second half of the season.
“Somehow the Steelers are over. 500 despite being outgained in every game. In fact, they’re the only team to have a winning record despite being outgained in each of the first eight games. Pittsburgh is winning in spite of the offense ranking 30th in points per possession and an offensive line that struggles to run block and protect Kenny Pickett (Steelers are 26th in yards per carry and 24th in pressure rate allowed per drop back),” Kerr writes for CBS Sports regarding the Steelers’ midseason grade. “The Steelers have a defense that’s second in the league in takeaways and a plus-eight turnover margin. Want to know why Pittsburgh is winning games? Those two factors are the reason. As bad as the offense is, the unit doesn’t beat itself often.
“Pittsburgh will have a hard time keeping this up in the second half. If the offense does improve, the Steelers will be very dangerous.”
The numbers are quite bad offensively. Entering Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh sits 29th in total yards per game (278.5), 25th in passing yards per game (188.0) and 25th in rushing yards per game (90.5), not to mention 29th in points per game (16.6).
Yet, despite those miserable offensive numbers, the Steelers are 5-3 and tend to win close, one-score games.
Is that sustainable? Who knows. But Mike Tomlin has had his Steelers winning this way since last season. His teams are comfortable playing low-scoring, close games, and they make the necessary plays to win games late, while opponents tend to wilt. There’s something to be said for that.
Will it be hard to keep it up in the second half? Probably. But is it impossible for the Steelers to keep winning this way in 2023? No, it’s not. They’ve shown that time and time again.
In Week Nine against the Titans, the Steelers showed signs of life offensively. If they can have a consistent running game and Pickett can clean up some issues early in the game, the Steelers could be a real dangerous team. There’s a lot of football left, and the Steelers seem to be trending in the right direction.
