Don’t look now, but the arrow seems to be pointing up for the Pittsburgh Steelers entering Week 13 of the season.
Coming off a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in a game in which the offense showed serious signs of improvement and life in the wake of a coaching change with the firing of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada, vibes are high for the Steelers.
There’s a buzz around the team now, thanks to second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett looking as good as he has in his career, the offense attacking the middle of the field in the passing game, and the run game on a serious heater the last month or so, not to mention the defense playing better and better in recent weeks.
That buzz is reflected in the latest power rankings from The Athletic, CBS Sports, and ESPN Tuesday morning.
In ESPN’s power rankings, the Steelers climbed all the way up to No. 9, moving up six spots from just a week ago. The Steelers passed the likes of the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans to move into the top 10.
According to ESPN, the Steelers have the No. 12 offense, the No. 9 defense and the No. 17 special teams based on the Football Power Index rankings from ESPN’s Analytics.
“The biggest surprises of the Steelers’ rankings are that their special teams is a bottom-half unit and the offense is a middle-of-the-road bunch,” ESPN’s Brooke Pryor writes regarding the Steelers in the power rankings. “Though the offense put up just 16 points — even below its season average mark entering Sunday’s win against the Bengals — it finally crested 400 yards of offense in the first game without Matt Canada, proving that this group is capable of moving the ball and supporting a top-10 defense. Kicker Chris Boswell has missed just one field goal this season — his best to date — but special teams is more than an automatic kicker. Punter Pressley Harvin has a net average of 39.8, one of the worst marks in the NFL.”
Though the offense took a significant step forward in Week 12 with a 421-yard performance against the Bengals, Pittsburgh still only put up 16 total points. Special teams struggled mightily in the Week 12 matchup, too, with a handful of gaffes in the win over the Bengals.
Punter Pressley Harvin III didn’t get much help from his coverage unit despite a strong day punting the football, and the young pieces couldn’t avoid penalties as linebackers Mark Robinson and Tariq Carpenter were hit with holding penalties.
Still, the arrow is pointing up for the Steelers entering Week 13, which starts a favorable stretch of games for the Black and Gold, starting with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
In The Athletic’s power rankings, Pittsburgh moved up to No. 11, climbing four spots after the win over the Bengals.
That climb up the rankings is due, in large part, to the performance the offense had in its first showing post-Canada. The Steelers passed the Seattle Seahawks and the Cleveland Browns in The Athletic’s power rankings this week.
“Firing Matt Canada seems to have served its purpose. After failing to top 400 yards in 44 games with Canada as the offensive coordinator, the Steelers gained 421 the week after firing him,” The Athletic’s Josh Kendall writes regarding Pittsburgh’s ranking. “Pairing an actual offense with a defense that ranks fifth in points allowed (18.6 ppg) is a winning formula, but it’s hard to imagine Kenny Pickett (31st in EPA per attempt, minus-.05) making much of a playoff run.”
Following the firing of Canada, Pittsburgh’s offense came to life. There was real balance to what Pittsburgh wanted to do offensively, attacking the middle of the field, taking advantage of matchups downfield for explosive plays, and running the football consistently throughout the matchup. That led to arguably the best game of Pickett’s career, which is rather encouraging.
It’s a bit too soon to be questioning if it’s enough for the Steelers to make a run in the playoffs, but the early returns on the change offensively is rather promising.
Then, in CBS Sports’ power rankings from Pete Prisco, the Steelers moved up to No. 9, climbing five spots.
In the process, Pittsburgh passed the likes of the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills, moving inside the top 10. Once again, the significant climb up the power rankings has to do with the offense.
“The change at offensive coordinator really livened up the offense and helped Kenny Pickett in the victory over the Bengals,” Prisco writes regarding the Steelers’ spot in his latest power rankings. “But they still only scored 16 points.”
Again, Sunday’s performance against the Bengals in the first game post-Canada was quite encouraging. Co-offensive coordinators Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan had a great game plan, Pickett made the right reads and was aggressive — but smart — with the football, and the run game controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the matchup.
It was an encouraging display from the Steelers on the offensive side of the football. But it was only one week. The Steelers have to build off it.
Right now though, at 7-4, they’re in the thick of the AFC playoff picture, remain in the hunt for the AFC North title, and are starting to look like one of the better teams in the NFL, whether people want to acknowledge that or not.
