So how are you looking at the surreal performance by the Steelers defense Sunday in Baltimore?
That it allowed 265 rushing yards and 457 total yards, lost Tyson Alualu to a knee injury early and Cam Heyward to a knee injury late, had a heated sideline argument between T.J. Watt and defensive coordinator Keith Butler, gave up a fourth-quarter lead and still played a great game?
Or that it scored a touchdown with a turnover, set up another touchdown with another interception, had four sacks and nine quarterback hits, made two late stops with the team's undefeated season on the line and still played a lousy game?
Here is Robert Spillane, speaking for the defense:
"At the end of the day, it's not about style points. It's about who got that W and who got the L."
I watched every play of the Steelers' 28-24 win, which left them with a 7-0 record and a two-game lead over the Ravens in the AFC North Division and probably had the surviving members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins — the NFL's only undefeated team for a season — squirming just a tiny bit.
I still can't believe what I saw.
I'm also worried about what's ahead if the injuries to Alualu and Heyward are serious.
The Dolphins won't have to worry about their undefeated season being matched this season if Heyward is out long term.
I write that sentence knowing that defensive line backup Isaiah Buggs made what could be considered the play of the game. He stopped quarterback Lamar Jackson on a fourth-and-3 play from the Steelers' 8 with 2:00 left, getting help from Vince Williams and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Heyward couldn't have played it any better.
"When he first came in there, he wasn't (making plays). I'm just being honest," Mike Tomlin said of Buggs. "We didn't have anywhere else to go. It wasn't like we were going to put somebody else in there. He had to knuckle down and get active and he did."
That play by Buggs was just one play that could be considered a game-changer or a game-saver.
There was Fitzpatrick breaking up Jackson's pass for wide receiver Willie Snead IV in the end zone on the final play. There was Alex Highsmith's interception of a Jackson pass on the Ravens' first play of the third quarter, setting up a Ben Roethlisberger-to-Eric Ebron touchdown that cut the Steelers' deficit to 17-14. And there was Spillane's interception and 33-yard return for a touchdown on the third play of the game.
Fitzpatrick as a hero? I get that. But Buggs, Highsmith and Spillane?
"Who says they're not supposed to make big play?" Roethlisberger asked. "We expect big plays from everybody. That's what makes this team special."
Highsmith's interception on a pass intended for tight end Mark Andrews was especially important because the Steelers had just gone three-and-out on their first possession of the second half. At that point, they had 88 total yards to the Ravens' 254.
"I knew they were coming back to that because they ran the same play in the first half and I didn't drop deep enough and he threw it over my head," Highsmith said. "I learned from that play. Just drop deeper and the ball was thrown right to my hands."
Interceptions by Jackson are rare. He had thrown just two coming in after throwing six all of last season when he was the NFL's MVP. But the Steelers did get three in their overtime loss to the Ravens in Pittsburgh last season.
"We have respect for him, but we don't fear him," Tomlin said.
The Steelers defense needed every big play, including a strip sack by Bud Dupree and fumble recovery by Vince Williams in the first quarter. It also needed to play much better in the second half, which it did, holding the Ravens to 86 rushing yards.
What a pleasant change from the nightmarish first half when the Ravens ran for 179 yards against what had been the NFL's second-best run defense, allowing an average of just 68.8 yards in the first six games. CBS reported that was the second-most rushing yards allowed in the first half by a Steelers defense in the past 25 years. The 2013 Oakland Raiders ran for 182 yards in the first half in a game in 2013.
The Ravens did much of their damage on the ground without injured guard Tyre Phillips and All-Pro tackle Ronnie Stanley, both of whom were hurt in the first half, Stanley for the season just a few days after signing a $112.9 million contract extension.
But Tomlin talked of Steelers injuries that also played a part in the Ravens' rushing success.
"I thought losing Tyson Alualu, in game, and losing Mike Hilton, prior to the game ... Those are two critical run-down defenders that made it tough for us to function at times."
It was after the Ravens went 80 yards in nine plays to take a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter that Watt and Butler had their sideline beef. The Ravens ran for 69 yards on eight carries during that drive, which ended with Gus Edwards' 1-yard touchdown run.
"It's just football. You kind of have those moments, very candid moments on the sideline," Watt said of the argument. "Everybody wants to be successful. Stuff like that just happens in football from time to time."
The guess here is Watt and Butler kissed and made up at halftime. Watt finished with a sack, giving him 6 1/2 this season after he had 14 1/2 last season and 13 in 2018. He also had five quarterback hits. Stephon Tuitt played a phenomenal game and was credited with nine tackles, two sacks and three quarterback hits. Spillane had 11 tackles and two passes defended to go with his interception.
Tomlin talked of how proud he was of his team for sticking together when things looked the bleakest. But he offered a word of caution for the games ahead, beginning with the one at Dallas next Sunday.
"I'm going to tell you what I told my team. We did not play well today. We lacked detail in a lot of areas. When you play good people, you are going to be up against it. We can't allow the emotions of the moment for us to miss that fact. It's important that we don't lie to ourselves."
Say this for Tomlin:
He never stops coaching.
