Improving Colts up next for Steelers
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PITTSBURGH -- Mike McCarthy spent the weekend after Pittsburgh's uneven performance in a Thursday night loss to Cleveland poring over tape to find areas where the Steelers could improve.
The first-year coach knows he's hardly alone.
"You're hard-pressed to find a team or two that feels really good about where they are right now," he said. "That's the norm."
It certainly is in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers have been a little scattershot four games into McCarthy's tenure. OK, but hardly great against Atlanta. Lethargic and inept in New England. Resilient and dynamic versus Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Too sloppy for its own good in a fifth straight road setback in Cleveland.
"I mean, you are what you put on film and you are what your record says you are," McCarthy said with a shrug. "So, we're 2-2 as a coaching staff and as a football team."
Translation: there's plenty of work to do for a group that remains very much a work in progress as Indianapolis (2-2) visits.
While the Steelers aren't exactly off the pace in the competitive and seemingly wide open AFC North, they have yet to show any real polish. While some bumps are to be expected as McCarthy tries to put his own stamp on a franchise that spent the previous 19 years defined by former coach Mike Tomlin's swagger, McCarthy knows it's time for a team that believes it can be a factor into January and beyond to start looking the part.
"I'm a huge believer in preparation," McCarthy said. "When it doesn't look right, I prepare more. That's the way I'm wired. That's the way I've always done it. That's what I'll continue to do, and we're going to be a better football team because of it."
Better might be required against the Colts, who have been steadily improving since getting routed at home by Baltimore in the opener.
Indianapolis followed with a narrow overtime loss at Kansas City, a thrilling comeback over AFC South rival Houston and a decisive win against injury-depleted Washington in London last week.
Finding a way to win in Pittsburgh -- something the franchise hasn't done since 2008 -- would provide the Colts with tangible evidence that last season's late fade is firmly in the rearview mirror.
"We know it's a big one," coach Shane Steichen said. "I told the guys … it's a big one because it's the next one. We're going into a hostile environment."
In more ways than one. The Steelers sideline grew heated at times as things slipped away in Cleveland, from quarterback Aaron Rodgers jawing at McCarthy to longtime defensive stars Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt visibly expressing their frustration.
Yet what the cameras showed was one thing. What the players felt was another.
"I think it is a positive," Rodgers said. "Player-led teams are the best teams, and I think anytime you're seeing the fire and the passion from all those guys, it's a good thing."