The Pittsburgh Steelers sit atop the AFC North at 8-2 on the shoulders of an outstanding defense and one of the league’s best placekickers. While Russell Wilson and the Steelers offense were struggling to an extent fans haven’t witnessed since last season, Chris Boswell executed his duties perfectly, accounting for the Black-and-gold’s entire point production. The Boz was 6-for-6 on FG attempts including nailing a few longer-range boots. Once again, the Steelers defense was rock solid, consistently stopping Lamar Jackson and Baltimore’s potent offense while snatching three turnovers.

But no matter how many times the defense set the table for them, Wilson and his offense consistently failed to feast by crossing the goal line. If not for Boswell’s perfect day kicking, Steelers Nation probably would find itself mulling a loss now instead of celebrating another victory over their arch-rival. While a win is a win and nobody cares much about style points, the offense’s performance at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday definitely wasn’t one that fans would like to see becoming habitual in the weeks ahead.

If it seems harsh to point out the most obvious wart on the face of yet another important Steelers win, consider that the offense was an anemic 4-16 on third-down conversions and entirely futile (0-4) in the Red Zone. Wilson passed for a modest 181 yards against a Ravens secondary which is widely viewed as the team’s weak link. He was sacked four times and certainly didn’t show the level of awareness when rolling out of the pocket which might be expected from a QB with his experience.

Late in the third quarter Wilson threw a beautiful, sideline pass to George Pickens that set up one of Boswell’s FGs. This raised the hope that things finally were beginning to gel for the offense. But then at 9:33 of the final quarter, Wilson threw a pass that looked more like a Hail Mary which the Ravens intercepted in the end zone. This denied the Steelers an opportunity to put more points on the board at a crucial stage of the game. If not for Boswell and the defense, this inexplicable blunder might have cost the Steelers the win.

Overall, the Steelers offense continues to lack cohesion and consistency, despite the team’s revamped offensive system and their impressive assemblage of talent. One ray of hope might be the play of Tight End Darnell Washington, who finished the game as the Steelers’ second leading receiver (two catches for 42 yards) behind George Pickens (eight catches for 89 yards). Nevertheless, throughout the game, the offense was unable to sustain consistency either running or passing the ball.

But on the defensive side, there’s a wealth of good news. Most importantly, the defense completely frustrated Lamar Jackson and company. This is the Ravens team that defeated the Buffalo Bills by a 25-point margin at the end of September and then trounced the Denver Broncos by a 31-point margin at the beginning of November. The week before facing the Steelers, the Ravens had roared back to score 21 fourth-quarter points, defeating Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals by a single point.

Leading the charge in this victory, the Steelers defense minimized all of Baltimore’s big weapons. All-World RB Derrick Henry rushed for only 65 yards. The Ravens’ dangerous receiver, Zay Flowers, was held to only two catches for 39 yards. Tight End Mark Andrews, typically a favorite target for Jackson, had only two catches for 22 yards. The defense’s outstanding performance in squelching the Ravens throughout four quarters of football is especially evident by comparing the teams’ times of possession. Despite the difficulty that the Steelers offense had in moving the football, the defense continued to stop the Ravens and give the ball back to them. This tremendous effort enabled the Black-and-gold to dominate possession time by the hefty margin of 36:22-23:38.

Perhaps most impressively, the defense accomplished this feat while utilizing a continuously platooning cast of players. This was reflected in the clutch plays made by rookie LBs Payton Wilson and Nick Herbig.

Wilson wrestled the ball from the grasp of RB Justice Hill for a key interception on a pass from Jackson at 8:24 of the final quarter. Herbig gave the Steelers an early break when he caused a Derrick Henry fumble early in the first quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, Herbig made another key play when the Ravens attempted what would have been a game-tying 2-point conversion. While the effort wasn’t noted by the play-by-play crew on TV, Herbig penetrated into the backfield on this play and pushed a blocker into Jackson’s path as he began to sprint around the left side of the line. This momentary thrust held up Jackson just long enough to disrupt the flow of the play.

Chris Boswell continued to play his familiar role as the Wonderful Wizard of Boz. He’s exactly the kind of money kicker a team needs when the game is on the line — and especially when your offense isn’t scoring any TDs.

As the weeks roll on and the Steelers face tougher competition, they definitely will need better production from the offense than what we witnessed on Sunday. In certain cases, the mobility of Justin Fields might offer some advantages that Wilson isn’t capable of providing. This suggests that Mike Tomlin will need to negotiate a delicate balancing act to determine which QB matches up better against specific opponents. Wilson didn’t make a particularly strong case for himself based on his outing against the Ravens. Should this offensive malaise continue in the weeks ahead, we might see Fields returning to play a bigger role. After all, Tomlin has openly stated that he expects to see TDs rather than FGs from his offense.

For the time being, though, everything is coming up roses in Steelers Nation. Few observers (including yours truly) foresaw this team standing at 8-2 in mid-November. So despite an offense not exactly ready for prime time, it’s obvious that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers organization continue to do plenty of things right. The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to look like a hungry group that’s improving in significant areas with each passing week.