Steelers preparing for second half after saying goodbye
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Of all the beneficial aspects that come with a mid-season bye week, the Steelers may have received just what they needed the most.
The time away from the UPMC Rooney 缅北禁地 Complex 鈥� spanning from Wednesday afternoon to Monday morning 鈥� allowed for some collective deep breaths.
鈥淲e needed it,鈥� Markus Wheaton said. 鈥淲e needed the break to clear our minds and get back to football.鈥�
A rejuvenated Steelers team is well aware of what awaits in the second half of its season, starting on Sunday with a pivotal road contest against the rival Ravens in Baltimore. Cam Heyward said it best.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a new season now,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got nine games left, and that determines if we鈥檙e in.鈥�
The Steelers didn鈥檛 help themselves and their playoff implications by stumbling into the bye week with two consecutive losses. While they鈥檙e still atop the AFC North at 4-3, there鈥檚 now a tighter margin for error. Can 10 wins give them the division? It didn鈥檛 last year.
鈥淭his second half of the season, we have to be on the way up,鈥� Ramon Foster said. 鈥淓verything about our season, the way we鈥檝e played, our mental game, us as a team, we have to be on the way up. That鈥檚 what this second half of the season is all about.鈥�
An upward trajectory isn鈥檛 going to be easy. Five of the remaining nine games come against AFC North opponents, against whom the Steelers rarely take season sweeps. Five of the remaining nine games are also on the road, and the Steelers aren鈥檛 exactly prone to winning on a consistent basis away from Heinz Field.
A win on Sunday against the Ravens, who have won eight wins of the 11 meetings since 2011, would be an important step for the Steelers. In addition to a division win, it would be a tone setter for a game against the 6-1 Cowboys on Nov. 13. A loss to the Ravens, who are on a four-game losing streak, would be an alarming cause for concern. Yet, it鈥檚 still a very real possibility, unless the Steelers can prove that the last two games were just a blip on the radar.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of significance in this game,鈥� Heyward said. 鈥淎nother road game. We鈥檝e struggled in the road games thus far. It鈥檚 a great rivalry. Good AFC North game. And I think it determines a lot in the standings. We need to have our best ball and move forward.鈥�
The Steelers will be healthy in the coming weeks, with Heyward, Wheaton, Ben Roethlisberger, Marcus Gilbert, Bud Dupree, DeAngelo Williams and Ladarius Green all expected to return from their respective injuries. A healthy roster isn鈥檛 going to be the ultimate fix, however. Improvements still need to be made on both sides of the ball.
Offensively speaking, there鈥檚 been a lack of offensive consistency even when Roethlisberger was under center. On defense, the Steelers are last in the NFL in sacks, 25th in passing yards allowed and haven鈥檛 been able to stop the run of late.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a chance for us to hit the reset button,鈥� Ross Cockrell said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what bye weeks are for. It鈥檚 been a chance for us to get healthy and look and see the mistakes that we made as a team before the bye week so we don鈥檛 make those same mistakes afterwards.鈥�