First place is first place regardless of how they got there.
But while the Steelers sit in this first position among their AFC North counterparts, there is also a belief from within the walls of the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex that the best is still to come.
"We haven't even come close to playing our best ball yet," Mason Cole said Monday on the South Side. "We still have a lot of work to do to get that best ball on tape, but it's encouraging to be at this point knowing that our best ball is still ahead of us."
This bye week in Week 6 of 2023 is much different from the Week 9 bye of 2022. At that point, the Steelers were 2-6, Kenny Pickett was four games into his tenure as the starting quarterback, and there was more work to do with respect to catching up to the rest of the AFC North.
Of course, that 2022 team went 7-2 to close the season and finished short of a postseason spot. There is a longer road to the end of the season following this 2023 bye, but it can be construed as a positive that this bye is coming at this time.
"There will be talks and planning on how we can get this thing rolling on offense, as it was last year," Cole added. "There needs to be because when our defense plays like that we've got to score some points for them. We just need to be better as a whole."
Sunday's 17-10 win over the Ravens was not your average 17-10 ball game. The Steelers' lone offensive score was the 41-yard bomb from Pickett to George Pickens and the win should not excuse the three and a half quarters of relatively slow offensive production. The 17 points came in the form of three Chris Boswell field goals, the Miles Killebrew blocked punt that rolled out of the end zone for a safety, and the Pickens splash play.
First place is first place, but a sustainable product from the offense has to be found in order for that to remain for 12 more weeks of the regular season no matter how excellent the defense performs. This locker room is well aware of that.
"I feel like we showed glimpses of that all throughout the game. We've just got to put it all together," Connor Heyward told me on Monday. "We can't one-quarter this. Each quarter we should be getting points and (we should be getting points) each time we touch the ball. We showed that we can push the ball down the field, and when it's pushed down the field we also make those five-, six-yard gains, lead them up to bigger ones. We just need them on a more consistent basis."
Heyward also made a point of reference to the Steelers using the bye to get healthier, which is a valid point. Speaking for the offense, Diontae Johnson is expected to return soon after the bye after injuring his hamstring in Week 1. Pat Freiermuth missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, James Daniels has missed two games with a groin issue, Dan Moore Jr. has a sprained knee, and Chukwuma Okorafor and Darnell Washington have been nursing respective elbow and knee injuries in recent mid-week practices.
Moore's knee injury opened the door for Broderick Jones Sunday, and he turned in an impressive performance in his first career start. Jones was one of many pieces of the Steelers' youth that stood out in the rivalry matchup and could have pushed Moore out as the starting left tackle for the remainder of the season.
Mike Tomlin acknowledged that the banged-up Steelers were able to best a relatively healthy Ravens team because of those young players who stepped up.
"Loss of significant players and managing some of that," Tomlin said after the game. "Baltimore had a full complement of players today. We had some significant guys inactive. And so I just appreciate the fight."
The same can be said for Joey Porter Jr. after his timely interception and for Keeanu Benton for his elevated play over recent weeks. It can be feasibly argued that Porter should take over one of the starting cornerback positions, while Benton should maintain a high snap count even after Cam Heyward and DeMarvin Leal come back from their respective groin and concussion injuries.
"Me, Joey, Brod, Nick (Herbig), Spencer (Anderson), we all talk about having that young-guy splash and making sure when we get our chances out there we take full advantage of it," Benton told me Monday. "Joey did that this week. He got that interception, we all turned up with him, and that was kind of -- we're saying we're putting on for the rookie class and whatnot, but it's all fun and it's great to see the guys you come in with do great as well."
