No one needed the NFL RedZone channel to stay tuned to what's occurred throughout the NFL over the first six weeks of the season.
All you needed to do was watch the Steelers play.
Their six games that produced a 4-2 record were a microcosm of all that is the NFL in 2017: Unpredictable, unfathomable at times and, as the dust clears, none undefeated.
The New England Patriots lost two games at home. The New York Jets, predicted to tank the season, are 3-3. The New York Giants, a near playoff team last season, got out of the gate at 0-5 and on Sunday upset the Broncos in Denver.
Only six of 16 teams in the AFC have winning records. The Philadelphia Eagles at 5-1 have the best record in the NFC, where the defending champion Falcons lost for the second time at home Sunday.
The NFL often has been unpredictable but 2017 may fool everyone, and the Steelers are smack in the middle of it.
They had lost two out of three before the past weekend to teams that were at least one touchdown underdogs at Chicago and home to Jacksonville. In between, they steamrolled the Ravens in Baltimore, where they had lost four in a row. They abandoned the run and could not stop it against the Jaguars terrible rush defense, then cut Le'Veon Bell loose for 179 yards in Kansas City and held the Chiefs to 28 yards rushing, including just 21 by the NFL's leading rusher, rookie Kareem Hunt.
By doing so, the Steelers beat the last remaining unbeaten and at 4-2 are tied for the second best record in the AFC. Oddsmakers love them again. The betting site Bovada rates them the second-best favorite in the NFL to win the Super Bowl at 7-1 odds, behind New England at 4-1.
The Steelers are the poster boys for what's gone on all across the NFL early in this season.
A couple of Steelers had theories as to what's occurring in the league, where up can be down and down can be sideways.
"It's the NFL. There are so many ups and downs, you never know. You can never predict anything," Maurkice Pouncey said.
"This team (Kansas City) was 5-0 coming into this game. They had so many (forced) turnovers, a lot of passing yards, a lot of rushing yards, and it didn't happen for them. Just like us last week.
"You can never predict the NFL. Every team is great."
The Cleveland Browns might dispute that as the only winless team in the league, but they did come within three points of the Steelers in the season opener.
Cornerback Joe Haden played his entire career with the Browns until he signed with the Steelers shortly before the season began, and he has a similar perspective as Pouncey.
"Everybody is capable, all teams are capable," Haden said. "Any given Sunday. You go into a game thinking it's sweet, but they get paid too. They have 53 players, NFL-caliber guys who can come out and have a really good day. If you go in overconfident, didn't prepare as much as you should have and give up a couple big plays, a team can be right in there."
As Haden pointed out, "People were talking about the Jets going 0-16 and the Patriots 16-0. Quickly, you got dudes fighting for it and executing, you get a couple interceptions and fumble the ball, a couple turnovers, you can easily win."
While the Steelers have somewhat followed the trend in the NFL by losing in two upsets and pulling one off themselves, they have bucked another by avoiding serious injuries. They have lost a starter here and there temporarily but nothing long-term.
In the meantime, other teams have seen devastating losses of star players including J.J. Watt of Houston and Odell Beckham of the Giants for the season. Several quarterbacks have been knocked out, none more crippling to a team than the loss of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. The Packers were second-favorites to win the Super Bowl at 5-1 before Rodgers' injury; they are now 20-1.
Miami, a playoff team last season, lost its starting quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, for all of 2017 before the season started. Andrew Luck still has not played for the Indianapolis Colts. Sam Bradford played briefly for the first time since the season opener last week for Minnesota.
The Steelers are well aware of what injuries can do to a team after suffering critical ones over the past five seasons. Maybe their luck has turned. In the meantime, they'll have to try to break the other NFL trend and start beating those underdogs.
