It didn't take too many games to realize this season was going to be different for the Steelers. Getting used to somebody not named Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback was one thing.
But, we quickly learned that 2022 turned into an endeavor to benefit the long-term future more than the short term for the first time in a long time. The dreaded R-word has even been used a time or two on the South Side.
As the season has progressed and the chances have increased for the first sub-.500 season under Mike Tomlin, the plea for this team was pretty simple: Make progress. Get better.
"We're moving in the right direction," Matt Canada said Thursday morning at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "We're nowhere near a finished product. We're still leaving some points out there, leaving some plays out there. We're obviously working and evolving to try and minimize those plays. But as a general trend, we're running the ball better. We're doing things better that are opening up some other options in the passing game. We're trending, but we've got a long, long way to go. We've gotta win more games."
A win over the Falcons Sunday would provide a way to measure that progress in the most tangible way. That would be three wins in four games, with the lone loss coming in a game where the offense scored 30 points. But, even the past few games have provided some evidence that this team is on the right track.
Over their past four games, the Steelers are averaging 158.8 yards per game on the ground. That's taken a collective effort of the running backs, the evolution of the offensive line and weekly adjustments to find the right balance and schemes. Matt Williamson has much, much more on the running game's improvement in the latest War Room here on DK Pittsburgh Sports, and I highly recommend you read it.
Kenny Pickett's overall stat line won't win him any awards, especially looking at three touchdown passes to eight interceptions. However, six of those eight came in two games -- one being his first NFL action against the Jets and the other at Miami when Pickett was unfairly put in a situation to try and throw to win the game.
Over the past four games, Pickett has thrown only one interception and has gone 100 consecutive passes without throwing one since that lone pick. And, Pickett's maturity in between the ears is becoming more and more evident in recent weeks.
The progress isn't limited to the offensive side of the ball. After a season where the Steelers finished dead last in rushing yards allowed per game and yards per carry against, they have the NFL's sixth-best rushing defense, allowing 104.0 yards per game. And that's with T.J. Watt missing seven games this season due to injury.
Watt's absence provided an opportunity for others to step up, and Alex Highsmith has answered the call. He's having the best season of his three-year career, registering double-digit sacks for the first time. Highsmith is also tied for the league lead with four forced fumbles, and made a key sack in a key moment in Monday night's win over the Colts.
"I think that's what you look for when you look at growth in guys," Teryl Austin said Thursday. "You look at them as players, you look at them if they're able to make plays in big moments because I think that's always important. That's the thing when you have guys that you're counting on to be the good players, the guys who kind of carry the torch for you. That's what you expect from them. Alex has really been doing well with that this year."
There's no doubt the Steelers still have several areas on the roster to upgrade before we can start considering this team to be a legitimate playoff contender. Both sides of the trenches need attention in the draft, and it sure would be a great time for the Steelers to finally draft and develop a shutdown cornerback.
And while the worst record possible would help the Steelers in taking advantage of having three selections in the first two rounds next spring, it would not help a team full of younger players that need to grow and develop. Setting an expectation to win is paramount for a young player's development.
And, for the older guys on the roster, yeah, they don't want to lose either. You can bet they're going to fight like hell to avoid a losing season. And Atlanta is the next team on the schedule.
"I don't think we're ever dead," Cam Heyward told us Thursday. "We just gotta go play. We got to make sure that we hold up our end of the deal. Start stacking. It's not going to be easy. They have a pretty good team. They have a good pass rush on their side. They got really opportunistic special teams between their punt returner, kickoff returner and then on offense. They've got runners we got to make sure we handle. ... I'll take it one game at a time, but I want to win them all from here on out."
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• In our availability with Canada, I had a chance to follow up Pickett's answer from Wednesday where he dissected the thought behind calling for the read option to Benny Snell Jr. for the game-deciding touchdown at Indianapolis.
The answer he provided might have been his best of the season:
"I don't know if it's changed much. I think obviously there's probably more familiarity with him in getting more reps with the ones. I think that's probably a bigger part," Canada explained. "Our plan has always been that it's a quarterback-driven offense, no matter who the quarterback is. What he likes, that's what you want to do. You look at that sequence down there when we scored, the first play to [Derek] Watt, which was the first play Kenny wanted. We obviously talked about that before. The next play was a run-pass option, he could have handed it off, he threw it toTae [Diontae Johnson], weren’t able to connect. We had time to talk and he either wanted to hand it off or keep it himself. So, those are things we obviously talk about all week in those times, and then we have those ready to go. We present the plan, what we think, but we're big believers in the quarterback having good confidence. A play coming in that he's not going to like is going to be hard to execute well."
• Heyward lost a bet, and it happened in the most disgusting way for an Ohio State alum:
Cam Heyward lost a bet pic.twitter.com/L1gEXReJnM
— Chris Halicke (@ChrisHalicke) December 1, 2022
Chris Wormley was definitely behind the bet. Immediately after Heyward was done speaking with us, he took the hoodie off, threw it in the direction of Wormley and shouted, "Never again, Worm! Never again!"
• In his Tuesday press conference, Tomlin said nickel corners are, "Angry little people." Austin has been asked about multiple players playing angry over the weeks, and that continued during his availability Thursday. Turns out, angry might not be the right word for everyone.
"These are my guys, they're good guys, but they play football with an edge and that's what we like," Austin said. "We like them when they play with an edge, they play tough, they play physical, because that's really what we find Steeler defense to be about."
• Austin didn't need many words to describe how he feels about finally getting to deploy the three-safety look of Minkak Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds and Damontae Kazee.
"I like it," Austin said with a big smile.
I don't think the Steelers' defensive coordinator wants to relinquish any secrets for how that can continue to be deployed.
• On the injury front, Najee Harris (oblique) and Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring) did not practice Thursday. That's two days in a row for both of them, which makes Friday very critical for their availability in Atlanta.
Jaylen Warren (hamstring) and Miles Boykin (oblique) were full participants once again, and Minkah Fitzpatrick (ribs) joined them after being a limited participant Wednesday. Robert Spillane (back), Mason Cole (foot) and T.J. Watt (ribs) were limited for the second day in a row. Myles Jack (knee) and Larry Ogunjobi (toe) were limited participants Wednesday, but missed Thursday's practice.
Benny Snell Jr. popped up on Thursday's injury report with a knee issue, but he sounded pretty upbeat when he spoke to reporters after practice.
• Speaking of which, read Alex Stumpf's piece on Snell. He's come a long way. It's awesome to hear him talk like he did Thursday.
• The fall of Antonio Brown continues. Now, he's fortified himself in his Tampa home, locking police outside after they obtained an arrest warrant.