| Getting back to Steelers' football means running the ball. Jonathan Dwyer led the way Sunday against the Bengals with 122 yards on 17 carries. (US Presswire) |
Several players have mentioned getting back to playing Pittsburgh Steelers football to be more successful. If visual evidence was needed, just watch game tape from the club's 24-17 AFC North win at the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night.
The victory was the Steelers' first on the road this season, and it's no surprise that they more than doubled their season average with 167 rushing yards (5.8 per carry). Third-year running back Jonathan Dwyer, who started since Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman were out with injuries, led the way with 122 yards on 17 carries (7.2 average).
"Everybody just kind of bucked up,'' left guard Willie Colon said Monday. "We needed that win. We can't make any more excuses. Every time we looked at the film, it was just us beating us, and you can't have that. We know we're a better team than that, but we can't wait for the next guy to make plays.
"Every guy had to individually step his game up and make things happen, and we were able to do that. (So), it felt good to go back to Steelers football. I think that's us. That's our identity, and we have to be that. In the games that we lost, on offense, we didn't close games out.''
In three road losses this season, the Steelers (3-3) blew three fourth-quarter leads on defense. But the offense took some heat for that as well.
"When you get down to three or four minutes left and we're on the field, we have to close games out," Colon said. "And we were able to do that. ... I feel like our intensity and energy level was high. We still left some things out there, but it was a total team win, which we needed.''
Colon believes the sky is the limit for the Steelers offense if it's able to give quarterback Ben Roethlisberger time to throw and be physical enough to run the ball the way it did against the Bengals. But what was different this time?
"The refs let us play,'' Colon noted. "That's what was most important. Both sides, they let us get after each other, and from an offensive line standpoint I think we built momentum and hit it downhill. And Dwyer did a good job hitting the holes, so things snowballed after that.''
Colon also gave credit to fellow linemen Doug Legursky and rookie Mike Adams, who started for injured center Maurkice Pouncey and right tackle Marcus Gilbert, respectively. Defensive kudos could be handed out to many players as well, such as outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley and cornerback Ike Taylor.
"Ike had a couple plays that didn't go his way last week, but the nature of being a defensive back is having a short memory,'' second-year cornerback Cortez Allen said. "But the good thing is that he had another opportunity, and the way he came to practice each day and prepared for the game, he was focused, clear-minded and ready to go.''
Allen believed better focus was a team-wide accomplishment the past week.
"All the guys, including myself, were a lot more focused in our details and what we had to get done,'' Allen said. "We all knew how important that game was and how important the games from here on out are when you're talking about division play. So, the (overall) focus and intensity was higher.
"(And) it's something that we will continue to build on each day. ... We made an emphasis on finishing and being disciplined through all four quarters, and I felt like we put together a full game defensively and offensively, minus a few plays. I think we played more team defense. I think we played our roles.
"And we played more disciplined than we have through this season. When you're playing team defense, good things happen. When you get away from playing individualized things, as far as not trying to make this play or that play, instead of just doing what's in your job description. I feel like we played a complete game in that sense. So, we had good results.''
The Steelers are off Tuesday and practice Wednesday through Friday to prepare to face the Washington Redskins Sunday at 1 p.m. at Heinz Field.
Follow Dale Grdnic on Twitter for real-time updates from Steelers training camp @CBSSteelers.