At the beginning of last week, I outlined the path back to contention for Pittsburgh, which started with a victory at home against Kansas City.
One-for-one.
10/15 vs Chiefs
10/22 at Falcons
10/29 at Raiders
11/05 vs Broncos
11/12 vs Saints
11/19 at Browns
Pittsburgh must, must, must build on the momentum from this game as they head to Atlanta to face an inconsistent Falcons squad. The Michael Vicks, for their part, were beaten pretty solidly by a New York Giants team that blueprinted what Pittsburgh needs to do to win. New York rushed the ball 37 times for 239 yards to outscore Atlanta 24-7 in the second half.
If that's not a recipe for success, I don't know what is. The good news is that the Steelers rushing game appears to be getting on track. The blocking was consistent yesterday, while Fast Willie continued to do his thing. Big Ben was more than outstanding yesterday, and though that kind of production is unsustainable, even something modeslty resembling yesterday's performance will do the trick.
Don't look now, but if Carolina beats the Bengals next week - a distinct possibility - and the Steelers get one on the road in Atlanta, the Black and Gold will be 3-3, tied with Cincinnati and just one game behind idle Baltimore.
With the Saints impressive victory over Philadelphia yesterday, the Steelers road to winning five of this six game stretch is clearly not an easy one. The road trip to Atlanta against a beatable Falcons team is critical. With the Raiders the following week, Pittsburgh can assume the momentum in the Division that they were supposed to have coming off of a world championship.
One game at a time, we can do this. Next up: Atlanta.
Let's get it done, Pittsburgh.
--PB--