As the Steelers rolled into their Week 7 bye fresh off consecutive victories, the tired, old narrative was being bandied about the locker room.
"Does the bye come at a good (0r bad) time," some players were asked?
Fact is, it doesn't really matter. The bye is here. And with a little good fortune Sunday, the Steelers could find themselves in first place after Sunday's action. That's right, losses by the Bengals Sunday night at Kansas City (likely) and by the Ravens at home to New Orleans (a 50-50 proposition) would leave the Steelers percentage points ahead of both in the AFC North standings.
Who thought that would be the case after four weeks of 1-2-1?
With four preseason games and six more regular season games under their collective belts, the Steelers' bye comes pretty much right smack in the middle of their season -- if they get to where they hope to this season.
And at 3-2-1, they've positioned themselves well for the second half, even in an improved AFC North -- which might be the best division in the league.
Could things have gone better? Sure. But this has been a team over the years that has made a habit of starting slowly and then building from there.
So let's take a look at what went right, what went wrong and how this team can improve moving forward.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
• James Conner's play has been a revelation. People who say they knew Conner could play this way -- averaging 118.3 total yards per game -- are simply lying. Nothing Conner did last season as a seldom-used, oft-injured rookie showed he could be this successful.
In fact, the Steelers weren't even sure Conner could be this good. They were hopeful. But they most certainly weren't counting on it. That's why veteran Stevan Ridley was re-signed in the offseason.
• The offensive line has shown to be one of the best in the league -- again. The line didn't play quite as well in 2017 as it had in some previous years. But it's back to being a dominant force this season.
Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked just nine times. Outside of a hiccup or two -- the fourth quarter and overtime at Cleveland and the second half of the game against the Ravens -- the line has been excellent.
• The Steelers set a team record with 56 sacks last season. They're on pace to break it again this season with 22 in their first six games.
An improved rush defense has helped. The Steelers are giving up 3.5 yards per carry to opposing running backs. That will get you into some obvious passing situations.
They have done so by having the defensive line play more like they did when Dick LeBeau was the coordinator. They are clogging the middle and allowing the linebackers to make plays. That's also allowed the linebackers to post 14.5 of the team's 22 sacks.
• The passing game has been good overall, despite the lack of a true No. 3 wide receiver.
Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster have been one of the top duos in the league, as expected, and both are on pace for 1,000-yard seasons.
But the emergence of tight ends Vance McDonald and Jesse James has been huge. James has 17 catches for 274 yards and one touchdown, while McDonald has 20 receptions for 274 yards and a score. That's 34 combined catches for 548 yards and two touchdowns from a position that was considered average -- at best -- by many coming into the season.
• Sean Davis and Terrell Edmunds have settled in as a solid safety combination.
A defense that allowed multiple big plays per week in the second half of last season, has given up just three pass plays of 40 or more yards and two runs of more than 20 yards. Last season, they gave up 13 pass plays of 40 or more yards and nine runs of more than 20 yards.
The play of Davis and Edmunds on the back end has been a big part of that.
Joe Haden and Mike Hilton have also played well, though both have missed a game, which hurt.
WHAT WENT WRONG
• Turnovers have continued to be an issue. Roethlisberger had five of the team's six in the opener in a disappointing tie at Cleveland and has thrown six interceptions overall. That's just too many. Couple that with four lost fumbles and the Steelers have turned it over 10 times early. When you also factor in Chris Boswell's three missed field goals -- all from 40 or more yards -- as well, that's 13 wasted possessions.
• Penalties were an issue, especially during the slow start. But the Steelers remain the most penalized team (58) in the league, while the second-most penalized team in the league has been whoever has been playing the Steelers (52). The big, drive-killing penalties, however, have been fewer and farther between in recent weeks.
• The Artie Burns roller-coaster ride has been, well, vexing. The coaching staff is at a loss with it, too.
Burns will play a strong game or two, then have one where he looks completely lost. Talent is not the issue. Burns appears to not be able to put the bad plays behind him. Every corner has them. It's impossible to play that position in this league and not give something up from time to time. But it can't be carried into the next play or, worse, the rest of the game.
The Steelers aren't going to give up on Burns because the only other option is Coty Sensabaugh, who's a nice backup but not someone you want to count on unless you absolutely have to.
Perhaps Cameron Sutton will work his way into the mix there, but that can't happen until Morgan Burnett, another first-half disappointment, gets back onto the field.
• Despite the big passing numbers posted thus far, the Roethlisberger-to-Brown connection has not always been good.
Part of the reason for that is because of the Le'Veon Bell situation. The Steelers assumed -- or were told -- Bell would report and play as he did a year ago. That didn't happen.
Because of that, teams are defending Brown differently. He has just six plays of 20 or more yards this season after leading the league with 27 such plays last season.
The reason? Without Bell in the mix, opponents can easier bracket Brown over the top. They weren't able to do that in 2017 because they had to be concerned with Bell — not only as a runner, but as a receiver, as well.
It's a big reason why Bell had just three carries of 20 or more yards last season. Despite Conner catching the ball well this season, he doesn't scare opposing defenses like Bell did, especially as a route runner.
WHERE DO THEY GO FROM HERE?
After a slow start, the defensive numbers are improving. In fact, if you look at how the defense has played as a whole, it's been good much more than it's been bad.
Despite six turnovers in the opener, Cleveland only managed 21 points and a tie. It was very good in wins over Atlanta and Cincinnati and had a pretty good day in a win at Tampa Bay.
Really, the only game in which it's looked terrible was in a 42-37 Week 2 loss to Kansas City, which has been scoring big on opposing defenses all season.
If it can continue to show improvement and growth, this team can be pretty good.
The defense doesn't have to be a shutdown unit. That might not be possible in today's NFL. But it does have to come up with some stops and big plays.
More turnovers are needed. The Steelers have forced just eight in their first six games. For a team that gets as many sacks as the Steelers do, they should have more.
But if the defense can keep opponents at or around the 22.4 points per game it has allowed, if the Kansas City game is thrown out, that should be enough for this team to win on a weekly basis.
We'll see what happens with the Bell situation. If he reports sometime this week, it might take a week or two, but he'll be incorporated into the offense with Conner.
That could be a big help for the defense.
After all, there are some upcoming games in which it might be difficult to limit opponents, which means the offense must be more consistent. It can't get off to slow starts, as has happened more often than not, thus far.
The remaining schedule sets up as a tough one. But we already knew that was going to be the case.
The Steelers are likely going to have to win at least two of their more difficult matchups -- at Baltimore, at Jacksonville, at New Orleans or at home against New England or the Chargers -- and not drop another winnable game to get to the 10 wins it will take to win the AFC North.
