Preseason's over.
Now the real work begins for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While the past three months have been promising and productive for the first-place Steelers (10-3), it has come largely at the expense of teams who will likely watch the playoffs on TV.
Six of Pittsburgh's victories have come against teams who currently have losing records. The other four wins — Denver, the Chargers, Washington and Baltimore — are solid resume-builders with a small caveat: none of them lead their respective divisions.
To be clear, Pittsburgh's play is part of the reason those four clubs find themselves looking up to others in the standings.
That will change on Sunday when the Steelers travel across the state to face NFC juggernaut Philadelphia, the start of an 11-day sprint in which Pittsburgh also faces a rematch with the Ravens and spends Christmas Day at Acrisure Stadium against Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
"It’s just going to show us how good we can be," safety DeShon Elliott said.
It's a testament to the weekly tunnel vision Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin creates that wide receiver Calvin Austin III needed to be reminded about the daunting stretch that awaits after Sunday's relatively drama-free 27-14 win over Cleveland.
“Who do we play again?" Austin said.
When reminded it was three teams that fully expect to be in New Orleans on the second Sunday in February, Austin laughed.
“That's a tough little stretch, but at the end of the day it's a five-star matchup as Coach T says because we're in it,” he said. “We know that when we’re out there, it’s going to always be a big-time performance.”
One Austin and his teammates believe they're ready for after a workmanlike victory over the Browns in which the Steelers were only too intent to let Cleveland self-destruct behind a flurry of penalties, missed field goals and turnovers.
More will likely be required in the coming weeks, which is fine by the Steelers. They have put themselves in a position to do things the franchise hasn't done in a while.
And for all the good things they've done since early September, they're only too aware their season will be defined by what comes next.
Sure, they'd love a little more time between games to rest up. The scheduling gods didn't give them that option.
So be it.
“I feel like the league kind of hates us already, man,” Elliott said. “It’s all right. We’re going to go out here, play those games, work our butts off, go out and be 3-0.”
What's working
Letting everybody eat. Russell Wilson seems to be almost pathological in his determination to get every eligible skill position player involved.
A week ago against the Bengals, he connected with 10 different players. In the rematch with the Browns, it was eight, including Mike Williams and Scotty Miller, veterans who have largely been afterthoughts of late.
Tomlin greeted Miller after an acrobatic 20-yard third down grab on the sideline in the third quarter with “this isn't a lightning strike,” a popular Tomlin-ism that means simply Miller did all the work necessary to succeed, so it shouldn't be a surprise when it comes.
Asked if he felt compelled to mention this to Tomlin the next time Miller is a candidate to be inactive on game days — as he has often been in recent weeks — Miller smiled.
“If you could tell him that, that'd be great,” he said with a laugh.
What needs help
George Pickens' maturity. While Pickens believes opponents haven't found a way to get under his skin, the evidence suggests otherwise.
How else to explain why nearly three years into his career, Pickens still frequently finds an envelope in his locker from the league telling him he's been fined for everything from unsportsmanlike conduct to unnecessary roughness?
Pickens' teammates respect his talent and understand his importance — look at how disjointed the offense looked on Sunday for proof — but will he “cut out the stupid stuff” before the playoffs arrive?
That will be entirely up to Pickens. Nothing seems to have gotten through so far. Maybe watching the team win without him while nursing a hamstring injury — as Pickens did on Sunday — will do the trick.
Stock up
The Steelers may have found their heir apparent to the seemingly ageless Cam Heyward in second-year defensive tackle Keeanu Benton. While Benton will likely never come close to matching Heyward's impact as a pass rusher, he can do just about everything else and his first career interception on Sunday — a leaping pick of an ill-advised screen pass by Jameis Winston — showcased his spiking football IQ.
Stock down
Everyone who put money down during the offseason on the Steelers missing the playoffs.
It looked like a good investment over the summer with two new quarterbacks, a new offensive coordinator, no second big-play wide receiver to complement Pickens and playing in what was viewed as the best division in the league.
Not so much anymore. Pittsburgh has a 99% chance of reaching the postseason for the fourth time in five years.
Injuries
Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi — selected as the team's Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee last week — left in the second quarter with a groin injury. Defensive tackle Montravius Adams (knee) is trending toward playing for the first time since October and could be available in Philadelphia.
Key number
Plus-28 — the Steelers' turnover margin since the start of the 2023 season, tops in the NFL.
Next steps
Try to do something they haven't done in nearly 60 years: beat the Eagles on the road. Pittsburgh's most recent victory in Philadelphia was on Oct. 24, 1965.
