NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- One thing you can't say about the 2020 Steelers is that they are complacent.
Despite now being the lone unbeaten team in the NFL after they knocked off the previously unbeaten Titans, 27-24, here Sunday, then watched the Cardinals hand the Seahawks their first loss of the season Sunday night, the Steelers aren't feeling like they're some kind of super team. They're staying pretty grounded.
With solid veteran leadership, the Steelers aren't going to get too high with the thought of being 6-0 for the first time since 1978.
"If you’ve played long enough in this league, you’ve been humbled enough times that you know to take it week by week," guard David DeCastro said Monday. "The second half is when it matters. All this stuff right now is kind of positioning. Baltimore last year was No. 1 and they lost after a bye. We were in that position with Jacksonville beating us after a bye (in 2017). We know it’s a long season. We’re enjoying it and the chance to go play football and not take ourselves too seriously and be hard on ourselves."
Still, 6-0 is 6-0. And despite how you got there, who you beat and how you did it, the wins are what matters.
After uncharacteristically missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and working hard just to get to 8-8 without Ben Roethlisberger last year, the Steelers aren't about to take this for granted.
"Honestly, I’m happy because we’re the only undefeated team in the NFL," safety Terrell Edmunds said. "This is the first time I’ve ever been 6-0. We’ll continue to work hard. People are pretty mad simply because we didn’t play our best game. We haven’t played our best in a lot of games this year, but we’re still pushing and fighting through it. We’re staying together as a team and winning football games. We hold ourselves on a pedestal and we want to be a great team. That’s what we’re striving for. And when we don’t play a great game, everyone is upset in some way. But we’re still happy that we’re 6-0."
And, quite frankly, they're just happy to be playing football. That's the other part of the equation.
"We’re just enjoying it, this whole year, the way the pandemic [hit] and that kind of anxious feeling everyone had," DeCastro said. "Are we going to play or not? To be able to play the game of football, which we have all done since we were kids? It's fun. Yeah, we’re undefeated, but we’re not crazy excited about it. I think we’re all just happy to be playing the game, being with each other. The winning is a bonus."
The Steelers played a strong first half against the Titans (5-1), just as they had played a strong game the previous week in a 38-7 victory against the Browns, who improved to 5-2 with a win over the Bengals Sunday.
But they did let the Titans back into the game, nearly blowing a 27-7 lead, which lends some credibility to their critics, who have continued to harp on the fact the first four wins were built on the foundation of beating bad teams early in the season.
And, four of those wins came at home thanks to a fluke in the schedule caused by the pandemic. The game against the Titans was originally scheduled to take place in Week 4. But a spate of positive tests among the Titans forced the game to be postponed to Sunday when the Steelers were initially scheduled to play the Ravens.
They should be heading into their bye week. Instead, they'll travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens this week. And the Ravens are rested, coming off their bye.
But the Steelers have not only won all four of their home games thus far this season, they're also now 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2010 and just the ninth time in team history.
At 5-1, the Ravens, however, present a different challenge. Baltimore has won the AFC North in each of the past two seasons and swept the Steelers in 2019.
The Steelers can't afford to rest on their laurels, such as they are, right now. There's still plenty of work to be done.
"I think we’re kind of hard on ourselves this year," DeCastro said. "We have high expectations for ourselves offensively and defensively. I think that’s good. No one is complacent. We’re staying grounded and looking to get better. We’ve got a good test this week. We’ve got a group of veteran guys on both sides of the ball. Win or lose, it’s all the same. Just stay professional and get better."