Well, it looks like I picked a bad week to start reading Dick LeBeau’s book “Legendary” chronicling the 2008 defense. I was all fired up and ready to see a dominating performance by the current squad this past Sunday, but ain’t nobody writing a book about that debacle.

There’s a popular saying that I believe but always have trouble adhering to: When someone shows you who they are, believe them. Under Mike Tomlin, the Steelers always have that game (or two or three) where they come out flat against a bad team, lose attention to detail, and drop a game they should win. I watched the Colts game film this year, and it wasn’t just bad. It was terrible. The run defense was non-existent, and the offense was one guy in RB Jonathon Taylor. Sure, Anthony Richardson has talent, but he is raw to the point that if you ever gave him a high-five, you’d need to wash your hands to avoid getting salmonella.

I watched that tape and predicted a big win for Pittsburgh. The problem was that the Steelers must have also done the same thing. The Colts marched right down the field and scored on the first drive, and I suddenly remembered who the Steelers have shown me they are time after time. When Richardson was injured and Joe Flacco came in, I was even more concerned. I pointed out in the post Denver Broncos article that receivers were running wide open, and even though Flacco is 127 years old in football years, he was going to see all those voids in the zone coverage that rookie Bo Nix did not. There weren’t many third and long situations where Flacco didn’t say “thank you very much” and make an easy throw to keep them on the field. There’s been a lot of talk about how special this current defense is, but 2008 they are not.

Which brings me to the offense. There will be games this year that the offense will need to win. Last Sunday was one such instance. Despite coming into the game missing key players, losing more in the process, and making bone-headed mistakes, they still almost did enough to pull out the victory. That gives me hope for Justin Fields being the QB for the future. His play this year has shown vast improvement over anything I saw from the Bears film last season. If he keeps putting in the work and continues that trend, Justin could be the guy that steers the ship for years to come.

The problem holding Justin Fields back right now is not play, but game plan. Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith are highly conservative by nature. I can’t exactly fault them on that mindset going into this game given the injuries on the offensive line and lack of experience that the back-ups are bringing to the party. But…the Steelers started off this game calling plays like they had a double digit lead, while Indy acted like they were down by six in a two-minute drill. And the energy of the teams reflected that difference of urgency. At some point, Pittsburgh is going to have to get aggressive, stop living in its fears, and play to win the game early. As Shoresy from Letterkenny would say: Set The Tone!

Injuries are plaguing the team right now. The IR list alone has enough people to start an NBA team. Losing James Daniels to an Achilles is a blow, but right now I am more concerned for the man. That’s a tough injury for a big man to recover from, and I wish him well. It’s too bad someone can’t just get into the settings and slide the toggle on injuries to the off position. Even with injuries being a reality, the offense left points on the field that could have tied or won the game several times. Those mistakes are fixable, but it will take coaching and the players learning from their mistakes to take that next step.

Will they do that? At this point, I can’t answer with any confidence. I have no idea what to expect for the Sunday night game against the Cowboys. It’s a prime time game against a marquee opponent, and their habit is to over-perform and make big plays. When they show you who they are, believe them.