It’s hard to believe that this Pittsburgh Steelers football team is actually sitting at 6-3 through nine games. They do not rank well offensively or defensively. On the season, they have been outscored by several possessions, and yet have won all of the close games to get where they are, with timely turnovers and the occasional clutch play.
Yet it’s not where you are when you’re in the thick of things. It’s where you’re going and how you get there. Nobody in the locker room likely understands that better than DL Cameron Heyward, who missed most of the season due to a groin injury. He reflected on the team’s record after Sunday’s win over the Green Bay Packers with a dose of reality..
“I’m proud, but there’s still a lot of stuff we’ve got to work on. You don’t get excited at 6-3 in the middle of the season”, he said from the locker room, via the team’s website. “A lot of football to be played. 6-3 is a good mark, but a lot of football in front of us. A lot of guys stepping up in different situations. We’ve got to address the problems and just keep growing from it”.
The Steelers went into Sunday’s game ranked 29th in points scored, though, sadly, their 23 points produced against the Packers represent a high point on the year. They have been in the middle of the pack defensively in allowing points, but near the very bottom in yardage.
The difference has been the turnover margin, in which category they are tied for the league lead with the Cincinnati Bengals. They are plus-10 on the season with 18 takeaways—including two interceptions late against Green Bay—and only eight giveaways. How many of them played pivotal roles in the outcome of the games in which they occurred? But they have covered so many other issues.
“I think we can be more stout in the run game. Communication-wise at the inside linebacker position, it’s everchanging”, Heyward said. “I think we can be better at our blitzing, in our timing of stuff. And I think getting off on third down. I thought we were a lot better this week than the week before. But that’s something you’ve always got to improve on”.
And that’s just where the defense can improve. It would be hard to find a part of the offense that can’t be better. Well, the run game is finally looking like it should, even getting an explosive play here and there. Believe it or not, entering Sunday’s games, only three running backs had more explosive runs than Najee Harris now has, getting his fifth against the Packers. Bet you didn’t expect that.
But, man, there’s still a long way to go. They have the Browns next in Cleveland, and then the Bengals in Cincinnati. The Arizona Cardinals don’t look like they’ll be an easy out with Kyler Murray back. And then they end the year at Indianapolis, against the Bengals, at Seattle, and then at Baltimore. 6-3 is nice now, all things considered, but what will their record be over the next eight weeks? Probably not 6-2.
