Viewed individually, the three games were not aesthetic or authoritative.
The first hung in the balance until a third-quarter interception in the end zone changed the momentum. The second came down to a defensive stand with two minutes remaining. The third required a fourth-quarter interception and clock-draining 79-yard drive to finish off a comeback.
“They weren’t perfect or pretty,” guard David DeCastro said Monday. “But 3-0 is huge. It’s having confidence that this team can be really special.”
One year after starting the season with three consecutive losses, the Pittsburgh Steelers have flipped the script for their first unbeaten start at this stage of the NFL calendar since 2010.
The Steelers exited Heinz Field on Sunday as one of eight unbeaten teams in the NFL after a 28-21 victory against the Houston Texans in which they came back from a 14-3 first-half deficit.
They have crafted a 3-0 start behind the resurgence of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who hasn’t thrown an interception in two of the three wins, behind a renewed running game that has pieced together three consecutive 100-yard performances and behind a defense that is chasing the quarterback and creating turnovers like its 2019 predecessor.
“It’s exciting,” said DeCastro, who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing the first two weeks with a knee injury. “Everyone is happy to be playing football, and when you’re winning games, it’s an added bonus. It’s been a crazy year. We’re just trying to keep our heads down and grind out some more wins.”
The last time the Steelers started a season with a 4-0 record, coach Mike Tomlin was 7 years old, Roethlisberger was three years away from being born and the franchise was completing its run of Super Bowl success in the 1970s.
To get to 4-0 for the first time since 1979, though, the Steelers will need to defeat another unbeaten bunch. And they will have to do it on the road against the Tennessee Titans, who are showing their 2019 run to the AFC championship game was no fluke.
The Titans will present the biggest challenge for the Steelers, whose first three opponents are a combined 0-9 this year.
“You can’t get overconfident when you start the season and have success,” inside linebacker Vince Williams said. “It does boil down to what you do at the end. But I’d rather have the momentum of winning coming into these upcoming games than starting with those negative things.”
Such was the case last year with that 0-3 and 1-4 start. Playing without Roethlisberger, the Steelers still won eight games and were in the playoff hunt until a three-game losing streak down the stretch.
“The culture you establish in this building is to always continue to improve,” left tackle Alejandro Villanueva said. “Personally, and, hopefully, collectively we can put better products out there. For us, it’s a matter to see what our baseline is and improve from there. The season is very long, and you want to play your best football at the end.”
Roethlisberger’s return from right elbow surgery and a running game that has closed out games in the fourth quarter has sparked an offensive turnaround. The Steelers ranked a franchise-worst No. 30 in total offense last season and were 27th in scoring while managing just one offensive touchdown in eight of the final nine games.
Roethlisberger has thrown seven touchdowns against just one interception. The Steelers also are the only team to have a 100-yard rusher in each game, and that balance has been matched by a defense that has five takeaways and an NFL-high 15 sacks.
“We’re just playing complementary football,” DeCastro said about the offense. “When the defense in the second half shuts down, and we can come back and control the game pretty well. Those are what makes great teams. We’re playing together, and having Ben back speaks for itself.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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