There's an old saying in sports that you are what your record says you are.
So, while some might not want to believe that the Steelers are a good team, the bottom line is that they're finding ways to win games.
It might not always be pretty. It might often be grimey. But that's kind of what's going on across today's NFL.
Through seven weeks, 69 percent of all games are within one score heading into the fourth quarter. And there's a skill involved in knowing how to win close games. There's also a skill involved in keeping opponents within one score and making them play the way you want to play as opposed to how they would like things to go.
That's where Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin excels.
The Steelers are 4-0 in one-score games this season, the best record in the league in such games this season. And that isn't the sign of a bad team.
Philadelphia and Kansas City, who share the league's best record at 6-1, respectively, are both 5-1 in one-score games this season. Sunday's opponent, the 5-2 Jacksonville Jaguars, are 3-1 in such contests.
And that ability to win close games is something that could be considered a thing that's often talked about when it comes to football teams – an identity.
In this case, the Steelers have taken on the identity of Tomlin.
Tomlin is 95-58-2 in the regular season in his career in one-score games. But it's something he's gotten better at the longer he's gone into his career.
Over the past seven seasons, he's 46-20-2 (a .691 winning percentage) after going 49-38 (.563) in one-score games in his first 10 years as a head coach.
And let's remember, he has done that in the past seven seasons using multiple quarterbacks – Ben Roethlisberger, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges and Landry Jones.
That's perhaps one reason why when he was asked earlier this week about the "identity" of this current team, Tomlin talked about things that went beyond simply being a running or passing team..
"I think in 2023 when you're talking about team identity, you're talking more intangible quality things," Tomlin said. "Grit, a mindset, the approach in which you take the circumstances. Are you a calculated risk-taking group? Are you a fundamentalist group? Are you a small-menu group? Those are the things that really kind of comprise identity today. But if you start talking about, we're a running group, then people are going to show up in goal-line defense in the open field on you.
"And so, it doesn't behoove you to marry yourself to an identity. All it does is make the sledding more difficult in 2023. There's so much specialization in today's game, it just is. The utilization of people in very specific places on offense and defense. It makes it a matchup game. It makes it a situational game. You can have an agenda which you desire, but there are things that people can do to push you off that agenda regardless of what your intentions are in 2023.
• There's a lot of season remaining. In fact, it's well over half the season remaining.
But the Steelers are 4-2 right now despite the fact they've played the majority of their first six games without two of their more important players – wide receiver Diontae Johnson and defensive lineman Cam Heyward.
Both were injured in the Steelers' disappointing 30-7 loss in Week 1 to the 49ers.
But Johnson returned for last week against the Rams and made an immediate impact, catching five passes for 79 yards on just six targets.
Thursday, they opened the window for a return from the injured reserve list for Heyward, who is coming off back-to-back seasons with 10-plus sacks.
Now, Heyward won't play this weekend against the Jaguars, but he could potentially return next Thursday night in the Steelers' game at Acrisure Stadium against the Titans. At the latest, he's back for the final of three games in this current homestand Nov. 12 against the Packers.
And Heyward should be fresh and ready to go after a lengthy layoff.
If anyone knows about Tomlin's mentality of winning any way possible, it's Heyward, who has been with him since 2011.
He feels it's no accident.
"We practice it," Heyward said this week. "It comes from our practice, Mike T setting up the drills; seven shots, two-minute drills. You prepare yourself for those moments. Guys have been doing it for a long time, Minkah (Fitzpatrick), T.J. (Watt), Kenny (Pickett) just got here but he was doing it in college. The mental makeup of this group is find ways to win. And we don't apologize for it.
• This week's opponent, the Jaguars play a lot of zone defense, doing so 77 percent of the time – the 6th-most in the NFL. Specifically, they play a lot of Cover-3 zone defense.
Statistically, Johnson didn't have his best season in 2022, but he still caught 86 passes for 882 yards.
He also tore up Cover-3 zones. According to advance metrics, Johnson averaged 2.32 yards per route run last season against Cover-3. Anything over 2.0 yards per route run is considered excellent.
Of course, the Jaguars likely have some of those same statistics at their disposal and might adjust to roll some coverages Johnson's way.
Doing that, however, would expose them to George Pickens.
In their six games this season, the Steelers are 4-0 when Pickens has at least 75 receiving yards.
And Pickens is the Steelers' best deep threat – by a lot. Pickett is 12 of 30 this season on passes that travel 15 or more yards downfield. But he's 10 of 14 with two touchdowns (a 153.3 passer rating) when targeting Pickens more than 15 yards downfield. He's 2 of 16 with a touchdown and three interceptions when it's not Pickens he targets 15 or more yards downfield.
The Jaguars allow 273.9 yards passing per game this season, which ranks 31st in the league.
Outside cornerbacks Tyson Campbell and Darious Williams have been susceptible to allowing some big plays.
Campbell has given up four touchdown passes and quarterbacks have a 108.8 passer rating when targeting him. Williams has limited opponents to a 60.2 passer rating when targeting him – largely because he has three interceptions. He's allowing 14.0 yards per reception in his coverage.
• Placekickers are often taken for granted – until your guy starts missing kicks.
But after watching now former Los Angeles kicker Brett Maher miss two field goals and a PAT last week in the Steelers' 24-17 win over the Rams, hopefully Pittsburgh fans realize how good they've got things with Chris Boswell.
Boswell has made all 11 of his field goals this season, including going 4 of 4 from beyond 50 yards.
•Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
Since going 2 of 4 in his first two seasons from beyond 50 yards, Boswell has been as good as any kicker in the league on long-range kicks. Since then, he's made 26 of 30 attempts from beyond 50 yards. That 86.7 percentage on those kicks aligns with his career percentage on all field goals of 86.9 percent, which ranks seventh on the NFL's all-time list.
And that's after a down season last year in which Boswell fought through some injuries and missed a career-worst eight attempts.
Going into last season, Boswell had made 88.3 percent of his career field goals. That would currently rank fourth all-time.
How good has Boswell been? His 28 career made field goals from beyond 50 yards are more than every other Steelers placekicker have had for the team – combined.
As it is, his career percentage of 82.9 percent on kicks of 50 or more yards is the best in NFL history for kickers with at least 30 attempts.
• Since week 12 of last season, the Steelers are 10-3. The Jaguars are one of the few teams that have posted a better record. They're 11-3 in that span thanks to not having a bye yet this season.
The only teams with better records than the Steelers in that span are the Chiefs and 49ers, who both have gone 12-2, and the Eagles, who like the Jaguars, are 11-3.
