In this week’s “3-&-Out” column, we examine the suddenly potent Pittsburgh offense, its opportunistic defense and the scintillating play of the special teams in Monday night’s 26-18 win over the Giants.

Don’t look now…

95 points in their last three games. 400+ total yards in their past two. Najee Harris eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark for three straight weeks. Their quarterbacks throwing eight touchdown passes against one interception. Their receiver room playing like… well, an NFL receiver room.

Don’t look now, Steelers fans, but your favorite team may actually have an offense.

That was my suspicion as I watched Monday night’s 26-18 win over the plucky New York Giants, a victory that gets Pittsburgh to 6-2 on the season and cements their first-place status in the AFC North heading into the bye week. It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch. Pittsburgh struggled to score in the red zone, settling for four short Chris Boswell field goals once they’d penetrated New York’s 20-yard line. And quarterback Russell Wilson had a costly fumble late in the fourth quarter that gave New York a possession in Pittsburgh territory with a chance to tie the game. Thankfully, T.J. Watt did T.J. Watt things, ending the New York threat and essentially cementing the victory.

The perils of blocking TJ Watt one-on-one… pic.twitter.com/e4pzoVrpEb

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) October 29, 2024

Still, the Wilson-led offense garnered 426 total yards, gained 20 first downs, went a respectable 6-13 on 3rd downs and produced an astounding (for the Steelers) 19 plays of 10 yards or more. Had two potential George Pickens touchdowns not been nullified — one by a holding call, the other by a replay review that showed he didn’t get two feet down on a catch at the back of the end zone — the Steelers would have scored 30 points or more in three consecutive games for the first time since 2015.

The differences between this season and the previous few are stark. Between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, the Steelers are getting better quarterback play than they’ve had since 2020, when Ben Roethlisberger led them to an 11-0 start before fizzling out late in the season. Fields was a capable game-manager who guided Pittsburgh to a 4-2 mark in his six-game tenure as starter while Wilson recovered from a pre-season calf injury. He protected the football, made enough plays from the pocket to keep defenses honest and used his exceptional athleticism when necessary. The Steelers averaged 20.2 points in his starts, which was an improvement on recent seasons but not enough to convince Mike Tomlin to retain him as the starter once Wilson was healthy.

Wilson has rewarded Tomlin for his faith by elevating the offense. The Steelers have eclipsed 400 total yards in each of his starts and are averaging 30.5 points. The much-maligned receiving corps has benefitted tremendously and suddenly looks sharp. They had 11 catches for 190 yards and a touchdown against New York, their best production of the season. George Pickens has played like a legitimate #1 since Wilson entered the lineup, and Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III are stepping up, too. Austin caught a touchdown against New York on a wicked corner route, where he turned a Giants’ defender completely around with a sharp stab to the post on the stem of his route.

I’ve been critical of PIT’s decision to not upgrade at WR but it’s been a nice night for that group. This stick-jab by Austin early in his stem is beautiful. Turns the DB all the way around and a nice ball by Russ produces 6. Renegade time! 23-9 PIT… pic.twitter.com/AIy7Gi0gXf

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) October 29, 2024

With the ball being dispersed better — nine different players touched it on Monday night — and with Wilson throwing a great deep ball, defenses have had to back off and crowd the box less, which has opened up the run game. One hand is washing the other in this regard.

The other difference is the coordinator. Arthur Smith is showing himself to be both creative and proficient at scheming to neutralize opponents or take advantage of their weaknesses. Take this counter run to Harris from Monday night. Unlike traditional counter, which involves a pulling guard, this one is built off of a zone scheme with no pulling lineman. The fact there is no puller eliminates the read key for the linebackers and doesn’t give them an opportunity to diagnose the play quickly. Fullback Connor Heyward starts to his right, indicating full flow, then works back to his left to provide the kickout block that springs Harris. It’s a creative twist on traditional counter that shows Smith understands how to tweak his scheme without having to overhaul it each week.

This is a great counter design by the Steelers. Line zone blocks right, FB steps that way then counters back. No pullers = no read keys for the LBs. Nice way to slow down the defense. Steelers run game looks sharp! pic.twitter.com/OvGwebMpOM

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) October 29, 2024

It’s too early to suggest this unit is among the league’s best. Pittsburgh is averaging 23.5 points a game, which ties them with Houston for 13th in the league, and is 16th overall at 328 yards per game. Those numbers are decent but not great. They are, however, much better than where they’ve been the previous three seasons, when they ranked 21st, 26th and 28th, respectively, in points scored, and 23rd, 23rd and 25th in total offense. Time will tell whether they can continue to produce at this pace, as the schedule gets harder after the bye. But they seem to be improving each week, and with the defense playing (mostly) lights-out football, scoring in the mid-20s should win them a lot of games.

About that defense…

The defense yielded an uncharacteristic 394 yards, which was nearly 100 more than New York was averaging entering the game, and rookie running back Tyrone Tracy gashed them for 145 yards on the ground. 108 of those came on just four carries as Tracy ripped off chunk runs of 17, 20, 26 and 45 yards. The Steelers also yielded pass plays of 25, 36 and 43 yards, as well as a touchdown toss to receiver Malik Nabors that was nullified by an illegal shift penalty. For a defense that had been great at limiting explosive plays, Monday night was an anomaly.

I haven’t seen the All-22 film yet, but in real time it looked like coordinator Teryl Austin was being aggressive with his linebacker blitzes, particularly on perceived run downs. This worked well at times, as Tracy was dropped for losses or held to short gains on several plays. But it also worked against the Steelers. On several runs, including Tracy’s 45-yard touchdown that brought the Giants to within one score in the 4th quarter, he stunted the backers out of position. Run blitzes are gambles because the backers hit the line with momentum and can be washed out of their gaps if they don’t come clean. On Tracy’s touchdown, Austin had Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson walk up to the line in a Brian Flores-style mug look and bluff as though they were coming before falling back to linebacker depth. This prevented them from taking on blocks with force and may have blurred their sight lines to the football.

This is the 3rd or 4th time tonight the Steelers have run-blitzed (or bluffed a blitz) and given up a chunk play in the run game. Too much guessing on these schemes. PIT is stunting the backers out of their run fits. pic.twitter.com/mFQRZDuF0E

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) October 29, 2024

Despite these lapses in both scheme and execution, the defense stood up when needed most. Twice New York had the ball inside Pittsburgh’s 30-yard line in the final five minutes, needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game, and in both instances the defense produced a turnover. The first was on Watt’s strip sack, and the second was a Beanie Bishop interception in the final minute that sealed the victory.

WVU alumnus Beanie Bishop Jr. seals it for the Steelers!

Three interceptions in two-weeks for Bishop. pic.twitter.com/WeFeIOBoCM

— West Virginia Sports Now (@WVSportsNow) October 29, 2024

It wasn’t the best night of the season for the defense, but they made enough plays in the end to secure the victory. That’s something we’ve written about the offense a time or two here in the “3- &-Out” recap. On Monday, that particular shoe slipped onto the other foot.

Special, Again

Special teamers usually toil in darkness, occupying jobs reserved for back-end roster players and performing their duties when many fans leave the couch to grab another beer or head for the bathroom. But Danny Smith’s units have gotten a lot of love in prime time the past two weeks, and deservedly so.

Last week, on Sunday Night Football against the Jets, the special teams blocked an extra point and a field goal, Chris Boswell made three field goals and punter Corliss Waitman had four kicks downed inside New York’s 20-yard line. This past week, before a Monday Night audience, Boswell kicked four more field goals — he is now 23-24 on the season, with his lone miss from 62 yards — and Austin ran a punt back 73 yards for a third quarter touchdown that broke a 9-9 tie. It was a beautiful return that saw Austin field the football, scamper to his left, capture the edge thanks to a shield block from tight end Rodney Williams, and outrun the Giants to the end zone. The cameras cut to the normally demonstrative Smith on the sideline, who rather than jump up and down like a lunatic simply chewed his gum and looked stoic, as though he expected it.

The block by Williams epitomized what the Steelers have been getting from Smith’s units this season. Williams hustled down the field to get into proper position to do his job, then executed it smartly by boxing out his defender when a less disciplined player would have delivered a block in the back. Pittsburgh is playing smart football in all three phases right now, and the result is a 6-2 record and the top spot in the North.

Wow. What a return by Calvin Austin. But a huge assist to TE Rodney Williams for shielding his man to let Austin turn the corner rather than blocking him in the back. Great discipline by Williams here, and continued stellar play by the Steelers’ special teams! 16-9 PIT. pic.twitter.com/5DNyywhT1I

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) October 29, 2024

And Out…

I’m sure you saw the statistic but it bears repeating. With the victory over New York, the Steelers have now ripped off 23 consecutive home wins on Monday Night Football dating back to 1991. That’s incredible. Just 33 more and they’ll catch DiMaggio…

Follow me on Twitter @KTSmithFFSN and look for my video breakdowns of all Steelers’ games on SCN YouTube every Wednesday. You can also check out my “Call Sheet” NFL podcast every Thursday wherever you listen.