Cam Heyward has a warning for anyone who is ready to push the panic button after three games.
"Point me in the right direction," the Steelers defensive captain said.
Heyward has been around long enough to know it's way too early in the season to get overly excited about a victory and too down about a loss. The 1-2 Steelers are a perfect example.
There was no reason to get too amped about an opening victory on the road against a Super Bowl participant. Or too despondent after back-to-back losses to the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns.
For proof, he said, just look at what goes on each weekend in the NFL. Or, more specifically, what happened on Sunday while the Steelers were recovering from their Thursday night loss in Cleveland:
The unbeaten Buffalo Bills, who had already beaten two 2021 playoff teams by a combined 72-17, lost in Miami to the Dolphins, a team they had beaten nine of the previous 10 times.
The unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs lost in Indianapolis to the winless Colts, who were 0-2 and had been shutout a week earlier in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars, who had lost 18 consecutive road games dating to 2019, went to Los Angeles and hammered the Chargers, 38-10 — the most points they've scored in 35 games. "And the Chargers are no slouch," said safety Terrell Edmunds.
"The NFL is so competitive," center Mason Cole said. "Teams have gotten so much better schematically, and personnel has gotten so much better. The saying 'any given Sunday' is no more true than it is right now in the NFL."
Indeed, after three weeks of the season, 28 of the 47 games played (not counting Monday's Dallas-Giants game) have been decided by one possession, including 10 of the 15 on Sunday. The Steelers are a prime example. All three of their games have effectively been decided by one score, if you don't count the touchdown they handed the Browns on the botched lateral play at the end of the game.
"It can happen any week," Edmunds said. "It's something they always tell us here — it's not the best team that wins, it's the team that plays the best."
What's more, the amount of games decided in the waning moments has been staggering. So far, 16 games have been decided in the final minute, including six on Sunday — maybe none more surprising than the Colts scoring with 24 seconds remaining to beat the Chiefs, 20-17.
"I love college football, but watching the NFL and the quality of football and how close it is ... if you win by 10 points in the NFL, it's a blowout," Cole said. "These games are so close all the time, it comes down to situational football and possession downs. It's so competitive. You have to do everything so well to get wins in this league."
The Steelers did that in Week 1 in Cincinnati, beating the reigning AFC North-champion Bengals in overtime but needing a blocked extra point at the end of regulation to avoid defeat.
But they lost in Week 2 when the offense produced just one late touchdown and the defense couldn't stop the Patriots from running out the final 6:33. And they are coming off a loss in Cleveland in which the offense managed only a field goal after halftime and the run defense was gouged for 171 yards.
The Steelers play host to the New York Jets (1-2) on Sunday before hitting a four-game stretch against teams who are a combined 10-2. The Jets are one of those teams who have already provided a classic ending, scoring two touchdowns in the final 1:55 to beat the Browns in Week 2.
"To crown a Super Bowl champ in September is foolish," Heyward said. "You take it week by week. There's a lot of football to be played, not just our group but everybody's group.
"Just stay consistent with what you do, stay even-keeled, let your work speak for itself. It doesn't always work out that way, but your work will speak over time."
Perhaps. But it certainly hasn't happened in the short term — not with the Steelers, and not with the rest of the league.
