Cleaning things up: Last week, Coach Mike McCarthy said they needed to clean some things up on both sides of the ball.
That meant time focused on self-scouting during the week of preparation, as well as working on areas where McCarthy thought the focus was needed.
It all paid off on Sunday with a 34-22 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium.
"As we say in Pittsburgh, we redd it up, we redded it up," said McCarthy. "It's a good start. I think any time you win a game, and it comes off of a healthy week of preparation, I think the newness of how you do things in year one, this was clearly our best week. Taking Tuesday and then focusing on ourselves was the right call on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
"Leading into it, it felt good coming into the game, but obviously it's never perfect. There are things that we'll clean -- continue to clean tomorrow and just keep it about ourselves.
"I thought their offense did a nice job. Their big play production was up. We were obviously focused on the run defense.
"Offensively, I thought we had a pretty good mix today. Special teams, I think we've got to continue to work the fundamentals. That was really an emphasis all week. Without seeing the film, I think it's going to be something he we need to continue to emphasize."
McCarthy praised the team's week of preparation leading into the Colts game, saying it was the best week the team as a whole has had all season.
"There's always little things, indicators," said McCarthy. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you every time we practiced fast, and we finished plus-3 over minus-5. The video obviously tells a story, but we had good video this week. I thought the corrections were seamless.
"When you get going as a team, your corrections are almost like checking boxes. Everything is not a discussion. It's just like anything. When you ask someone what time it is, you don't want to hear how the watch was built, but you have to go through some of those conversations.
"I just think we're hopefully starting to hit our stride."
One player who has definitely hit his stride is running back Jaylen Warren. Warren has been the to go-to back for the offense with Rico Dowdle missing the last three games with a toe injury and he hasn't disappointed.
Warren had 188 yards from scrimmage and two long touchdowns, one a 50-yard touchdown run and the other an 80-yard touchdown reception.
"He's the man," said McCarthy. "He's hauling it right now for us. There's a number you like to continue to give him. He's produced, so it's been heavy.
"It will be great to get Rico back this week too. I look for Rico to practice this week and hopefully be up for the game. He was close.
"Having them as a one-two punch was the vision of this offense, but Jaylen is crushing it right now. He's been awesome for us.
"In my opinion he can work in any offense. He's dynamic in the run game. He's excellent coming out of the backfield, and he's as tough as they come in pass pro. In our protection adjustment packages, I would say multiple on the high end of volume, and he does a great job with that too.
"He's a three-down player, and he can beat you inside zone, outside zone. There's nothing run concept-wise we lean against him. I love his game."
Sharing the credit: Coach Mike McCarthy called running back Jaylen Warren 'the man' following the win over the Colts, and rightfully so.
Because that is exactly what Warren has been for the Steelers offense.
Warren had 15 carries for 101 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run. He added six receptions for 87 yards, which included an 80-yard catch and run for a touchdown, for a total of 188 yards from scrimmage.
In typical Warren fashion, there was zero patting his own back.
He gave all of the credit for his success to his teammates.
"Just trusting my teammates," said Warren. "I always trust my teammates. But just the camaraderie we've built over the past couple of weeks, it really shows on Sunday for me.
"We won. That's all that matters to me. One hundred yards on the ground, I would say that's a credit to my O-line. I just get the ball and run through the open holes."
Warren became the first NFL player in 40 years, since Herschel Walker did it while playing for the Dallas Cowboys, to have a touchdown catch of 80 or more yards and a touchdown run of 50 or more yards in the same game.
Warren is also the first Steelers player with a touchdown run of at least 50 yards and a touchdown reception of at least 80 yards in the same game. Per NFL Research, Warren also joined Franco Harris in Week 13, 1979 as the only Steelers players in the Super Bowl era with 80 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown and 80 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the same game.
"Yeah, that's unbelievable," said Warren. "It's an honor. Like I said, it's a credit to my teammates for achieving stats like that, especially at this high level of the game."
Warren has been the bell cow for the Steelers ground game over the last three weeks with fellow running back Rico Dowdle inactive with a toe injury.
"I look at it…whenever my name is called, that's just how I always played," said Warren. "Whenever my name is called, I've got to seize the moment.
"With Rico being down, but knowing he's one day closer to coming back, I feel like I can hold it down until then.
"It's just my preparedness throughout the week, knowing when they could come through. I always prepare like I'm going to get every snap in the game, even if that's not the case."
Warren said the win over the Colts, where they had a balanced attack, shows what the offense is capable of, and he is looking forward to more of the same.
"It just shows that we have a bunch of playmakers on both sides of the ball," said Warren. "Offensively, you can go anywhere with the ball and get explosive plays, so I think that's what's great about it."
Adding some splash: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers came out firing against the Colts, finishing the day going 22 for 31 for 235 yards and three touchdowns, including the 80-yard catch-and-run by Jaylen Warren. Warren also added a 50-yard touchdown run.
"I felt like we moved the ball pretty good, but we also had some splash plays," said Rodgers. "Obviously, you throw in the flat and go 80, that's a big boost. Also had a 50-yard run. First guy since Herschel Walker in 1986, I just found out. An 80-yard catch and a 50-yard run, that's pretty incredible. Let's see, it would have been, what, 40 years. Yeah, pretty outstanding."
Rodgers has continually offered his support behind Warren, loving what the fiery running back brings to the table.
"He's just such a slippery player," said Rodgers. "First guy rarely brings him down. He's good inside the tackles. He's good outside of the tackles. Always moving forward. Always spinning, slipping out of plays, finishing runs.
"He's one of the most liked players on the team. Guys want to block for him on the offensive line and the tight ends and the receivers. Just really enjoy his energy from start to finish every day of the week and enjoy what he does for us."
Per NFL Research, it was Rodgers 90th career game with at least three touchdown passes, joining Tom Brady (104), Drew Brees (97) and Peyton Manning (93) as the only players in NFL history with at least 90 such games.
Rodgers, though, is all about the win and seeing the offense grow each week. That included those in the receivers room, especially after the team lost Michael Pittman Jr. earlier this week to the Reserve/Injured List, and Roman Wilson and Ben Skowronek had to leave Sunday's game with injuries. That left DK Metcalf, Germie Bernard and Brandon Smith as the only healthy receivers to finish out the game.
"Well, B-Smith hasn't taken a ton of offensive reps," said Rodgers. "I've been around him for a few years. He was with us in New York and always enjoyed him being on the field, his ability. I think he's a talented guy.
"But we can play in 12 all day long, and if we need to, we will. But I was really proud of Germ (Bernard) the way he stepped in. There were a couple of plays with B-Smith. We had this play we're running inside zone, and we have this short motion to block the safety. Just by the end of the week, it was just assumed that motion. I wasn't even calling it.
"I looked over and I was, like, 'Oh, B has probably never done this. I was, like, Hey. He didn't know what I was thinking.'
"So, we were kind of making it up a little bit as we went there, but I'm proud of B-Smith. He's a smart guy and knows his stuff, and he'll be ready to take on a bigger role this week, I'm sure."
Completing the mission: Stop the run. Stop the run. Stop the run.
Yes, the message is repetitive because quite simply, it was the message the defense was sharing all week.
And they did exactly what they set out to do.
The Steelers held Colts running back Jonathan Taylor to 15 carries for 45 yards on Sunday, while allowing the Colts only 66 today yards rushing.
"With that team, it starts with J.T. (Taylor), and it's an 11-man job, multiple guys to the ball," said Heyward. "Obviously, you want to replicate that, but it's (easier) said than done.
"That was definitely one of the deciding factors in the game."
The win was the perfect bounce back opportunity for the Steelers after losing their last game to the Cleveland Browns.
Heyward said they spent the last week correcting things that needed corrected and it showed.
"We hate losing," said Heyward. "We try to learn from our mistakes. "We've got good leadership in a guy like Aaron (Rodgers), and the offense plays very well.
"Then on defense we understand that we got to clean up our mistakes, whether it's tackling or execution, and you can always be better at that."
The defense allowed only one touchdown in the 34-22 win, while also forcing the Colts to turn the ball over on downs.
"I think that's the deciding thing in the game," said Heyward. "I think being able to have multiple hats to the ball, surrender three instead of seven was huge for us, and our offense was scoring at a high rate.
"So, you put that together, and it definitely makes us to be a tougher opponent. We got to continue to keep doing that.
"I would have been more proud if we didn't surrender (the touchdown), but hats off to a lot of our guys. When you have these long drives, we get other guys that step up: Gabriel Rubio, Keeanu Benton, Yahya Black. There's a multitude of guys that stepped up in those instances.
"I think just really hitting home, getting off the field when we can and especially in the red zone, and only surrendering one touchdown was huge."
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