The Steelers were embarking on their fourth Super Bowl title in six years the last time they started a season with four consecutive victories.
Even when they went 15-1 in Ben Roethlisberger's rookie season in 2004, they started 1-1 before reeling off 14 consecutive victories.
But, here they are, one of eight teams with an unbeaten record after Sunday's 28-21 victory against the Houston Texans, trying to do something they haven't done since 1979 _ start with a 4-0 record.
"When you're 3-0, life is a lot better," Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro said.
And it's a lot better than last season when the Steelers started 0-3 and spent most of the rest of the year trying to play catchup with two quarterbacks who had never played in an NFL game. But, if nothing else, they have done what good teams do _ beat the teams they are supposed to beat.
"Personally, I don't think there's a difference to be honest," left tackle Alejandro Villanueva said. "The culture we establish in this building is to improve personally and hopefully collectively. It's still early in the season. For us, it's continuing to see where our baseline is and improve from there because the season is very long, and you want to be playing your best football toward the end."
This is the first time since 2010 and only the third time since Mike Tomlin became coach in 2007 the Steelers have started 3-0. They get a chance to extend their winning streak on Sunday against the similarly unbeaten Tennessee Titans (3-0), who have won all three games on last-minute field goals by Stephen Gostkowski.
OK, the naysayers want to point out the Steelers have built their 3-0 record against teams who are a combined 0-9. But those same naysayers might also note the Titans have won all three games by a combined six points over teams who are a combined 1-8.
"It's a good start, that's all you need," DeCastro said. "They weren't perfect or pretty. But 3-0 is huge. I think this can be a really special team."
