In many ways, the Steelers’ victory in Denver on Sunday was difficult to distinguish from their Opening Day win in Atlanta last weekend. We saw the same stingy defense which squelched Kirk Cousins and the Falcons last Sunday exert their dominance again, limiting the Broncos to only two FGs and 64 total yards rushing — while grabbing two interceptions in the 13-6 win.

Once again, the Steelers offense was mostly sluggish, converting only 4-of-13 third down opportunities and converting only a single Red Zone opportunity for the game’s lone TD. The performance of Justin Fields in Denver was even more modest than it had been the previous week. He totaled only 110 passing yards but still ended the game with a 97.3 rating — compared to an anemic 55.2 rating for Broncos’ rookie QB Bo Nix. Fields also avoided the crucial errors which Nix made that foreclosed any chance the Broncos might have had to win.

The Steelers totaled 141 yards rushing with a grind-it-out attack that emphasized controlling the ball and dominating time-of-possession. Both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were effective — if less than spectacular. Each one averaged more than 4 yards per carry for the game. The Steelers might have scored a second TD shortly before halftime when George Pickens caught a 6-yard pass from Fields and extended the ball over the goal line. But the score was nullified by what appeared to be a questionable offensive interference call on receiver Van Jefferson.

As exciting as it is to see this reconfigured Steelers team push it’s record to 2-0, it’s equally difficult to imagine the Steelers defense would be capable of maintaining its average of only 8 points surrendered per game in Weeks 1 and 2. And while Justin Fields certainly has impressed thus far with error-free play, he hasn’t yet made a clear case for being dubbed indefinitely as the starting quarterback. It’s unlikely that either Mike Tomlin or Arthur Smith are satisfied with this offense’s difficulty in moving the ball or its low production on the scoreboard.

While this sluggish offense might be nothing more than a symptom of growing pains early in the season, it’s also possible we’re seeing a rerun of the same issues that made watching the Steelers so tedious during the previous two years.

But viewing the Steelers’ first two games from a glass-half-full perspective, we’re also seeing some definite positives, particularly in the form of the young OL’s continuing development and the solid play of the team’s rebuilt secondary. Besides the two interceptions — one of them in the end zone by Cory Trice Jr. snuffing out a Broncos scoring drive — the Steelers’ leading tackler in the game was DeShon Elliott with 9 tackles, four of which were solo. Besides grabbing a key interception himself, Damontae Kazee also was among the team’s leading tacklers.

When a team is winning football games — and doing so despite barely tapping its offensive potential — this has to be a positive sign. September is a key month in the Steelers’ 2024 season because the caliber of their opponents improves as the season goes on, with a particularly tough December schedule. So the more wins the team stacks early in the season, the better their chances to qualify for a playoff berth.

It’s difficult to escape the impression that the Steelers have been playing these first two games in an extremely conservative mode — unwilling to take any unnecessary risks with a young and developing offense. While this makes sense from a coaching perspective and it hasn’t backfired so far, the offense clearly needs to upgrade its performance in the weeks ahead.

The next two games against the Chargers and Colts appear winnable, but the Chargers are led by Justin Herbert who already has notched two lopsided wins. The Steelers’ meager scoring average of 15.5 points per game in Weeks 1 and 2 will be sternly challenged in the games ahead. But for the time being, the Black-and-gold are undefeated and they sit alone atop their division. As they head into the Chargers matchup, the Steelers so far have accomplished the things necessary to belong in the winner’s circle. Given more help from the offense, there’s no reason why this team couldn’t surprise many of the faithful in Steelers Nation.