Tuesday, October 20
The stacking has begun: You have to start somewhere, and the Steelers did that on Sunday when they won their second consecutive game when they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 26-19, in overtime.
It is the first time this season the Steelers have won back-to-back games and the focus is now on stacking wins.
"It's just continuing to show up each week like we have the last two weeks," said linebacker Payton Wilson. "Preparing the way we have. I feel like our Thursday padded practices have been really good, especially defensively. We've had good practices, and I think that's just been the (reason for) the success.
"When you turn on the tape, you just see the effort and the love that we have for one another finally showing on the tape."
Coach Mike McCarthy also spoke of the strong practices the last few weeks, crediting the effort during the week to what has shown up on Sunday afternoons.
"We needed to stack two wins in a row," said McCarthy after the game. "Those are chunks of confidence that you gain as a football team. We've had two weeks of practice preparation where the head coach is watching everything, and he feels that's the way it's supposed to look and those are hurdles you get over in the first year of your program. We've had two good weeks of (preparation)."
Wilson said the padded practices on Thursdays have given them a different energy as of late, turning it up to another level.
"We realized what we were doing the first few weeks wasn't really working," said Wilson. "We had to take it up a notch. The last few have felt like camp practices. We've been getting after it competitively, good on good, as well as going through the cards and stuff.
"But it's been intense practices and I feel like you get a lot out of it."
Once again, the Steelers were strong against the run, holding Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving to just 46 yards on 19 carries, a 2.4-yard average.
"It goes back all the way to Week 1 for us," said Wilson. "Everybody doing their assignments, trusting one another and trusting the schematics that are put in. I think we did a good job of just condensing the space and tackling, I feel like we did a better job, especially in the linebacker room the last few weeks.
"So, just a shout out to everyone for doing their job, being one of 11."
Building that bond: Jaquan Brisker's locker is right next to Jalen Ramsey's in the Steelers locker room at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, so it allows him to have a good feeling during game week preparation of what Ramsey's mindset it, how he is feeling.
Last week, heading into the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brisker knew the feeling was positive all around just from conversations during the week, and pregame in the locker room.
"They're actually great," said Brisker of the conversations. "He's a great teammate, great person. We had a great week. Me, him and (Jamel) Dean were right here talking (pointing to the spot in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex locker room). I knew we were going to win before we left on the trip just through the conversation we were having.
"We're getting closer and closer and it's just looking great for us."
Ramsey played like a man possessed against the Bucs, finishing with 10 tackles, including four for a loss, and two sacks.
Doing it all with a wrist injury.
"He played amazing," said Brisker. "I knew he was going to, because in the beginning he was talking in the locker room very loud and things like that. He had a great week of practice, and it was just that energy we felt.
"As a secondary we had to step up this game, which we did, and we won and he did amazing."
It wasn't just Ramsey. Dean, who joined the Steelers as a free agent this year after playing his first seven seasons in the league with the Bucs, was also on fire, finishing with four tackles, six passes defensed and an interception he returned 40 yards.
"It was awesome," said Brisker. "Everybody was happy. It was great. I feel like we had this conversation in the corner on Saturday before we left and I knew we were going to have a great game. For him to go back and do what he did, it was crazy. It's amazing."
The Steelers secondary is coming together strong and could get even stronger this week if safety DeShon Elliott is activated from the Reserve/Injured List.
The timing is perfect.
"We have a lot of great players here, and as long as we put the pieces where they're supposed to be, it's going to be great," said Brisker. "We're just turning it up, and that's all we're looking forward to doing."
Coming together: It's often been said, you play like you practice.
And the last two weeks, that has been the case for the Steelers.
They have had multiple weeks of strong practices, and it is showing with the results, having won back-to-back games.
"Week to week we're doing a better job of preparing and really being intentional about what we want to get done each day that we're out there, especially the padded practices each week," said linebacker Jack Sawyer. "You can really put your hands on somebody and get that real live look of playing football. We are being intentional about it, going out there and working on our craft in a really good way and it's showing on Sundays.
"We're just continuing to play better and win our one-on-ones up front. I thought the interior guys did a great job pushing the pocket for us all day (against Tampa). I was saying collectively, we played really well and played aggressively when it came to rushing the passer."
The defense allowed just 19 points in the overtime win against Tampa on Sunday, the lowest points allowed since Week 1 against the Falcons, while giving up only one touchdown and holding them to field goals the rest of the day.
It is what they set out to do when the season started, but understand they have to keep it up.
"Whenever you can hold a team to a field goal instead of a touchdown, it's a huge win for the team," said Sawyer. "We knew we had some things we could build off, but ultimately, we knew we had the things that we had to clean up too. Once we did, it will look a certain way and we'll be happy with the results.
"It's just a daily thing, getting in the building, studying, practice is huge, the preparation has been great. And then going out there and executing at a high level come game day."
One player who Sawyer has witnessed brining that high level energy every day for the defense is Jalen Ramsey, who was the heart and soul of the defense against Tampa.
"He's just flying around," said Sawyer. "He is all over the field. He brings that intensity every day to practice. He practices like it's a game. That's one thing that I respected about him, being a rookie last year, is he is a player who's been All Pro, has had a bunch of big contracts. And he still goes out there and plays so hard every practice, every snap. It was motivating for us young guys last year to see.
"It's nothing new having him fly around and make the hits, the sacks, the pass breakups. He's a one-of-one type of player on the defensive side of the ball. He means a lot to this team.
"He's a great leader. He sets the tone, sets the example, what it's supposed to look like every day. And he's fun to play with."
Bringing you the action: For fans who don't want to miss any of the action, NFL+ is here, which means you can now watch the Steelers live and on the go! Watch live local and primetime regular season games on mobile, plus NFL RedZone, NFL Network, live audio and more - all in one place.
