With Week 7 now closed, one question seems to begin circling just a tad: Are the Steelers are back? My very first rebuttal to that is simply – really? I mean sure, in two weeks they won twice, but they were 0-4 two weeks ago. I would think that in order to determine if the Steelers as back after four terrible weeks, wouldn’t they need four good weeks in return? On average, that’s a fair request, is it not? I can see how some Pittsburghers would feel joyous over the last two weeks. After all, they do look as if they’re back, do they not?
Let’s look at some points my fellow yinzers addressed to me that I researched myself this week of victorious Stiller football.
Let’s start with Ben Roethlisberger. Going into Week 6, Roethlisberger was at five interceptions thrown. Also, he had roughly a 62.5 percent completion percentage for those four prior games combined. Since opening kick off Week 6 at the Meadowlands, Roethlisberger has thrown no picks, and is at roughly 75 percent completion percentage with the two wins against the Jets and Ravens. Not too shabby. He seems like he has more control of not only the ball, but of his team, as they are more successful in moving the ball up field. The first four games, they could have been compared to a low division college team when discussing offensive progression.
The wide receiving core has stepped up more in big plays, route running, consistency and even a flip, much to the dislike of head coach Mike Tomlin.
The running back core has been consistent, and eclipsed season-high rushing numbers against a “stubborn” run defense like the Ravens showed.
The special teams have been fantastic. Shaun Suisham has been Mr. Dependable, and we can even mention (hey, beggars can’t be choosers) the near kick return for a touchdown run by Emmanuel Sanders at the end of the Ravens game. If his shoe size was about two sizes smaller, it probably would have been a mention for the best Steelers play thus far this season.
Then you have Troy Polamalu. Has he returned or what? He has not been healthy as of late, and it wasn’t until Week 6 where I really could start to see Troy be Troy. Who didn’t smile when he popped Stephen Hill last week against the Jets? Well, Hill didn’t, he was gasping for air. During the Ravens game, he not only had a few pops that match the velocity of the one on Hill, but the hurdle jump in an attempt to block the point after the closing touchdown was quite impressive. So Polamalu got a penalty, and it technically never counted for anything, but when was the last time you saw Polamalu do that? Last I can recall, is when he was 100 percent. Promising signs hopefully.
All in all, I still feel there is a ton of progress that needs made in regards catching up in the division, and more consistency by Pittsburgh’s gridiron gang to be able to see they are back. But it does show promise, right? It does get you excited again for Sundays, right? Especially considering the amount of division games the team still has left. It is only Week 8 upcoming, and the Steelers show progress. Make your own call in regards to them being back. However, who doesn’t like the Steelers position now compared to three weeks ago? A lot of people were calling for the coaches to be fired, but if they can continue this, and prove they used a glorious timed bye week in the franchises favor, maybe they bought themselves more time. Ironically, time is something Pittsburgh fans have been proven to give.
