Nov 5, 2017 4 min read

No matter how you view it, the Steelers have put themselves in a good spot heading at their bye week.

At 6-2, they entered the weekend tied for the best record in the AFC. And based on current tiebreakers, they hold down the top spot by virtue of their victory Oct. 15 in Kansas City.

The scary thing is that they haven’t played their best football.

Certainly, the defense has put together some strong games. It had the look of a unit that could make the leap and become a top-10 unit this season. It’s currently fourth in total defense and, perhaps more important, is second in points allowed, giving up just 16.4 per game.

Even better than that, the defense hasn’t allowed more than 18 points in regulation. Chicago scored 23 points, but had just 17 at the end of four quarters, and Jacksonville posted 30, but 14 of those came via interception returns for touchdowns.

The defense, though it’s had some moments where it’s given up yardage, has been stout.

The offense, on the other hand, has b,een anything but efficient. While the Steelers are 11th in total yards, they are 20th in the league in points scored per game.

But a big part of that has been who the Steelers have played against.

A quick look at the NFL defensive rankings shows the Steelers have played six games against teams ranked in the top 10 – Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Jacksonville and Cincinnati.

A look at the second half schedule shows only three more games remaining against teams that rank that high, against AFC North opponents. Those teams weren’t necessarily the problem for the Steelers in the first half. The Steelers went 3-0 in their first trip through their AFC North, averaging just more than 25 points per game in those matchups.

The second half of the schedule is littered with defensive lightweights, such as New England (32nd), Indianapolis (31st), Green Bay (23rd), Houston (18th) and Tennessee (16th), mixed in among the rematches with the Ravens, Bengals and Browns.

If that doesn’t cure what has been ailing Pittsburgh’s offense, nothing will.

Certainly, getting better overall play from Ben Roethlisberger is needed.

Roethlisberger has been good, at times.. But, he’s also had some struggles, most notably in losses to Chicago and Jacksonville.

The Steelers don’t need him to be the Roethlisberger of 2014 and 2015, when he averaged more than 300 passing yards per game. They need him to be an efficient game manager, a player capable of keeping defenses honest and making some big throws when necessary.

They also need Martavis Bryant.

Yep. There it is.

As good as rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster was last week against Detroit, catching seven passes for 193 yards, including a team-record 97-yard touchdown, the Lions showed him no respect as a deep threat.

They kept a safety deep on whatever side of the field Antonio Brown lined up. The Lions kept the safety on the other side of the field, typically over Smith-Schuster, in the box in an attempt to slow Le’Veon Bell.

Without Bryant on the field, the Steelers will see more of that.

With Bryant, they’ll have a better chance to succeed on offense and make a run at a Super Bowl.

It’s a big reason why, when teams called at the trade deadline Tuesday, the Steelers told them they weren’t interested in trading the disgruntled receiver.

They can revisit Bryant’s desire to be traded in the offseason. For now, they’ll be content to be one of the leading contenders to win the Super Bowl.

Dale Lolley covers the Steelers for DKPittsburghSports.com.