NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Steelers hadn't been out on the road in nearly two months since their regular-season opener against the Giants at MetLife Stadium a full six weeks ago -- something that happens in college football but is unheard of in the NFL.
So, maybe you'll forgive them for not playing a complete football game in Sunday's 27-24 victory over the Titans here at Nissan Stadium. Probably not, but we bring that up, regardless.
Ben Roethlisberger had played some of the best football of his career thus far, continually taking what the defense was giving him, not taking chances with the ball.
So, maybe you'll forgive him for a three-interception game against the Titans, especially since the Steelers won, and after the Seahawks lost to the Cardinals in overtime Sunday night, are now the lone unbeaten team remaining in the NFL.
The Steelers did finally score a touchdown on their opening possession of the game for the first time in 23 outings and have now scored 25 or more points in all six of their games, the first time in team history they've ever accomplished that feat.
So, maybe you'll finally stop complaining about Randy Fichtner.
OK, that last one is going to be too difficult for many, so we'll have to settle for the first two.
As the Steelers built a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter of this game, it appeared they were going to put things into cruise control and start prepping for their big showdown next week in Baltimore with the Ravens.
Heck, they openly talked about not being able to celebrate this win because they had to start preparing for the Ravens.
"We feel we have a really good football team, right?" Roethlisberger said. "We feel that it could be very special and we're happy with where we are right now, but that's going to be a short-lived happiness because we know what's coming up next."
That would be the Ravens. The Steelers have been every bit as good as the Ravens this season, better in some ways. And that is a matchup that was supposed to take place this week -- and then the Steelers and Ravens were scheduled to have their bye next week.
Instead, because of the Titans' COVID issues, the Steelers had to take their bye three weeks ago, while the Ravens had their off week moved up to this week, meaning they'll be well-rested when they host Pittsburgh next weekend.
So, if the Steelers wanted to coast and try to take things a little easy after building a 20-point third quarter lead, it's understandable. Don't misunderstand. They didn't do that. They were still out there playing hard.
But they weren't going to hang 50 points on the Titans -- no matter how easy things looked in the first half. And they weren't going to hold the Titans to just one touchdown.
The Titans are, after all, a team that went into Baltimore last season in the playoffs and knocked the Ravens off before heading to Kansas City and taking a 17-7 lead on the Chiefs before being outscored 28-7 the rest of the way.
The Steelers gave up 17 unanswered points in this game. And the reality is that in the NFL, that's not all that difficult.
Like the Titans shutting down the Chiefs for a short period last season, any NFL defense is capable of getting a few stops in a row. In this game, the Steelers did enough to win. And that's all that really matters.
The Titans weren't simply going to give up. That's what teams like the Browns do. The Titans are not the Browns.
Now, it's on to Baltimore.
• The Steelers used Ulysees Gilbert along with Justin Layne in the dime defense to replace Devin Bush at linebacker and Mike Hilton at corner.
Actually, Layne was replacing Cam Sutton, who was the player who stepped in for Hilton in all of the defensive packages.
And when they did that, Steven Nelson, the right cornerback, bumped inside to the slot along with Sutton.
The Steelers had issues with A.J. Brown, who caught six passes for 153 yards. But so has everyone else. Ryan Tannehill's other 12 completions went for 77 yards.
Tight end Jonnu Smith -- who entered this game leading the Titans in receptions (19), yards (234) and touchdown catches (5) -- was a non-factor in this game. Credit once again Terrell Edmunds with that. He drew a lot of coverage on Smith — Minkah Fitzpatrick helped out there, as well, though he certainly made his share of mistakes in this one.
He'll be tested again next week by the Ravens and tight end Mark Andrews, but Edmunds is quietly playing very well. The Steelers really didn't use him as a dime linebacker in this game, but that option remains available.
• Watching Stephen Gostkowski struggle brings back memories of Chris Boswell's struggles of 2018, when he led the NFL in missed kicks.
Like Boswell, Gostkowski has a strong track record, so the Titans will likely give him more leeway than an unproven kicker. But he's now missed eight kicks already this season.
In Boswell's tough season in 2018, he missed 12 total kicks, five extra points and seven field goals. Gostkowski is nearly there in six games.
That's what makes it all the more amazing that the Titans are 5-1 and have won four one-score games.
It also makes you appreciate how good Boswell has been since, missing just three kicks in the past two seasons.
• In fact, the Steelers' special teams have been a strong point this season, just as they were pretty good last year.
Ray-Ray McCloud's emergence -- and ability to now hold onto the football, something that troubled him earlier in his career -- means Diontae Johnson never has to return punts again.
Not when McCloud can do this:
Oh, by the way, Jordan Berry punted twice in this game, averaging 47.5 yards per kick and placing both inside the 20.
If the Steelers can continue to keep their special teams a strength, they'll be very tough to beat the rest of the way.
• The previous four times two unbeaten teams met in Week 7 or later, the winner of that game went on to the Super Bowl.
If history is to repeat itself, that means the Steelers are destined to be playing in Tampa this year, whenever that game is played.
• Johnson was targeted 15 times in this game, catching nine passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns. JuJu Smith-Schuster was targeted 14 times, catching nine passes for 85 yards.
Most of what they caught was underneath stuff, as the Titans were intent on not allowing the two receivers who had dominated the Browns last week -- Chase Claypool and James Washington -- to beat them.
"I think, for them, they were trying to get nothing up top," Smith-Schuster said. "I think they were trying a lot of Tampa 2, a lot of deep, two safeties in the back, trying to keep everything in front of them. And with that being said, Diontae backs out one-on-one, we're throwing everything short. Me playing on front side, everything that's short. And that's the kind of game it was. Not every game is going to be a home run, but, hey, it is what it is. You just never know whose turn it is to ball every week."
If you're the Ravens, it has to be something of a conundrum. They trust their cornerbacks. Maybe they trust them enough to line them up one-on-one on Claypool. The Ravens run cover zero -- or have, at least -- 15 percent of the time this season. Their other primary coverages are cover-1 (32 percent) and cover-3 (28 percent).
The problem for the Ravens is that after releasing Earl Thomas before the season began, they really don't have a safety on their roster capable of being the post safety.
So do they let Smith-Schuster and Johnson bleed them, or take their chances on allowing Claypool and Washington perhaps beat them over the top?
Yep, we're looking ahead this week, as well, in this column.
• If that's the worst Roethlisberger plays this season, the Steelers will be OK. For each bad throw or decision the Steelers quarterback made, he made 10 good ones. Heck, Russell Wilson threw three interceptions Sunday night against the Cardinals. It happens.
Maybe it's a good thing he got that one out of his system before playing the Ravens, whose secondary will test him more so than any other has this season.
And going into this three-game stretch, the Steelers needed to win two of three if they want to keep winning the AFC North in the picture. Even a loss to the Ravens next week isn't a killer because the Cowboys the following week now looks like a cakewalk.
If they can get to that second meeting with the Ravens -- Thanksgiving night at Heinz Field — either tied or within a game of the Ravens, they'll be in great shape.
Especially if Roethlisberger doesn't have that kind of game again.
• The Steelers were 13 of 18 on third downs in this game. That improves their third down percentage on the season to 51.1 percent. That's the team's highest percentage since 2007, when the Steelers converted 46.8 percent of their first downs over the course of the season.
Two weeks ago, after struggling against the Eagles on third down, the Steelers were allowing opponents to convert at a 50 percent rate.
After limiting the Titans to five conversions on 13 attempts, they're now allowing a much-more palatable 42 percent.
That's what is helping them dominate in time of possession. The Steelers held the ball for 36:37 in this game and are now holding the ball an average of 33:55 per game this season.
• The Steelers had their streak of having at least three sacks and an interception stopped at five games. They had a few chances at interceptions in this game, getting their hands on six passes.
But the Titans did a good job of getting the ball out of Tannehill's hands to keep him from taking many hits. The Steelers managed just two sacks and six quarterback hits.
That would be a good pass rushing game for most teams. For this one, not so much.
"There weren't a lot of shots to get on the quarterback," Cam Heyward said. "We knew that going into the game. They hadn't given up a lot of sacks."
The play that might have saved the game, however, came on a pass rushing play, as Stephon Tuitt forced Tannehill into an intentional grounding call that moved them back to the 37 late in the game.
At least one of the Tennessee reporters felt Tuitt's hit might have been late. But Mike Vrabel wasn't having any of that.
"Late? I mean, late? I don't know what late is anymore," the Titans' head coach said. "I think I was looking at full body weight, and it looked like the player slid off to the side from the quick replay I got."
Tuitt definitely pulled off on his hit on Tannehill. But he saw the flag come down -- it was thrown almost immediately -- and ran immediately to the sideline.
He obviously thought the flag was on him.
• Vince Williams had two more tackles for a loss in this game and now has 12 in six games. That's the most in team history through six games -- topping Joey Porter who had 11 in the first six games of 2001.
Williams also had 10 tackles and a sack Sunday. Add him to the group of players who are really playing well this season.
Not bad for a guy the coaching staff didn't want on the field last season.