The Steelers aren't just talking about being aggressive as it relates to kicker Chris Boswell and repeated long-range field goal attempts, they're taking their shots whenever possible.
"We feel we have a kicker that we can, if we choose, put him out into those situations, that we're going to be successful," special teams coordinator Danny Crossman emphasized. "And historically he's proven that."
Boswell's two field goal attempts in Sunday's 20-3 loss at New England came from 57 and 56 yards out.
In Week one against Atlanta, Boswell attempted one 56-yard field goal and was on the field for what would have been a 62-yard try had the Steelers not succumbed to a miscommunication that ultimately led to a desperation pass by holder Cameron Johnston.
Boswell was 9-for-11 on field-goal attempts of 50-plus yards in 2025 and is already 1-for-3 on such kicks this season.
"There's a million things that go into that," Crossman explained. "You could talk about it until you're blue in the face. Just in simple terms, if we feel we have opportunities for points, until they change the rules and the team with the most points no longer wins, we'd like to play for points. But there's always going to be times that the punt-and-pin is gonna maybe be a better play situationally depending on how games are going.
"Some games, whether it's weather, whether it's the score, it's a high-scoring game, it's a low-scoring game, there's a lot of things that go into that in terms of thought process."
Rookie defensive back Robert Spears-Jennings has distinguished himself when the Steelers have kicked off or punted. He was in on four special-teams tackles at New England and has been a part of seven through two games.
"Obviously, the scouting department and the coaches did a great job of identifying him, and more importantly he came in with a great mindset," Crossman assessed. "He came in the mindset to whatever his role was gonna be he was gonna buy in and he was gonna try to be an exceptional player at whatever we asked him to do.
"He's finding ways to make plays a lot of ways. Point of attack, making plays. Re-direct, making plays, Getting off the ground after he gets knocked off of a tackle and still getting involved in a play.
"Really happy with where he is and hopefully just keep developing him. We think we got a good player right there."
MAN WITH A PLAN: The upcoming visit from the Bengals will challenge the defense in a variety of ways, including how to keep quarterback Joe Burrow from doing damage after he escapes the pocket.
That's a dynamic the defense confronts more often than not.
"It starts with, you gotta have a clear understanding of how we're going to contain the quarterback that week and know who we're going against, whether their escape lanes are to the right, left, things of that nature," defensive coordinator Patrick Graham emphasized. "And then, from there, when the ball's snapped, recognizing the sets. Everybody talks about going into a pass rush with a plan. To me, it's always been what mode are we in? Are we in early-down mode? Are we in jet-mode for the pass rush?
"Then, from there, what's our take-off? What's our plan in terms of, collectively, how are we taking off to go get the quarterback? Five-man rush, four-man rush, three-man rush from there, and then the coordination of the whole thing and just trying to funnel the quarterback the way we want to."
The Steelers contained Patriots quarterback Drake Maye's scrambling (17 yards on four carries, including a 13-yard jaunt n the fourth quarter) but were victimized on a 63-yard completion when Maye escape the pocket around the right edge and found wide receiver Romeo Doubs in the third quarter.
"Sometimes, it's definitely just a quarterback making a great play," Graham said. "I would say (Sunday), it was more we gotta be better coordinated right there, and that starts with me, making sure we're clear on the plan right there. And then up to the players when they get out there on the field to react to what sets they're seeing and get that down.
"There were a lot of positives. It got away from us a few times and he was able to get the ball down the field."
TALE OF TWO WIDE RECEIVERS: Offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio expressed continued confidence in wide receiver DK Metcalf, who has caught eight passes on 19 targets in two games and has struggled with drops.
"We believe in DK," Angelichio said. "DK has been a really good player in this league, he's been a productive player. We have tremendous confidence in him.
"We're just going to keep practicing and keep believing in DK. We know he'll be the player we want him to be."
Angelichio was encouraged by the performance of rookie wide receiver Germie Bernard, who saw extensive action for the first time due to wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.'s unavailability (foot).
Bernard caught four passes for 35 yards on eight targets against the Pats after playing three offensive snaps against Atlanta. His NFL coming-out party also included a bobble that wound up being statistically assessed as an interception for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"It was good to see 'Germ' out there," Angelichio said. "He showed some strides, certainly a lot to build off of. I thought he took some steps forward. His blocking, I thought he did a good job going in there and blocking and it was good to see the ball find his way on a few targets."
