Sep 20, 2016 4 min read

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As could be expected after his team’s first 2-0 start since 2010, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had a lot of glowing things to say about his team today, offering up praise for pretty much anyone mentioned during his weekly press conference.

And why not?

The Steelers are playing good team football in all three phases. And each have had their moments in the first two weeks.

As Tomlin noted following Sunday’s 24-16 win over Cincinnati, the team wasn’t perfect in any phase in that game, but you don’t want perfection in September. That only leaves room for decline.

This is a good Steelers team and one that is only going to get better in the coming weeks as it regains some of the key pieces it has been missing.

Does that mean the Steelers will go unbeaten? Certainly not. This is the NFL and any team – even the Cleveland Browns – is capable of winning in a given week. But having watched a bunch of games in the first two weeks, if these Steelers aren’t the best, they are certainly in the conversation.

* One of those missing pieces should return Sunday as wide receiver Markus Wheaton is expected by Tomlin to return.

That will add another missing ingredient to this offense.

The other pieces have been good at times. Eli Rogers had some big moments against Washington, while Sammie Coates, Xavier Grimble and Jesse James have made some plays as well.

But Wheaton gives Ben Roethlisberger another target with which to work with, and he’s one with which Roethlisberger is familiar after some growing pains early in his career.

We’ve seen some of those growing pains pop up already with Coates, in particular. He quit running on a couple of plays against the Bengals and it turned into an interception at the end of the first half.

Still, Coates is averaging 38.3 yards per catch this season, so he’s also made his share of big plays as well.

But Wheaton should be a steadying factor.

* It doesn’t sound like Roosevelt Nix will be ready to return from his back injury just yet.

David Johnson wasn’t a high-profile signing in May, but he’s been very valuable to this team replacing Nix at fullback and also serving as the team’s best blocking tight end.

* Tomlin correctly pointed out that punter Jordan Berry had an excellent game on Sunday. I know I pointed that out Sunday as well, but it bears repeating.

Berry placed five punts inside the 20, four of which were downed inside the 10. The one kick he did boot through the end zone was on the next to last play of the game when that was what he was directed to do.

Berry likely won’t get any play for AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, but he should. He helped win that game Sunday by pinning the Bengals deep in their own end on a rainy day as much as any player on the Steelers’ roster.

* Through two games, the Steelers have run the ball 66 times. This week’s opponent, Philadelphia, also has run the ball 66 times in its first two games.

DeAngelo Williams has 58 of those carries for the Steelers, a heavy workload to be sure.

I’ve been asked several times how the Steelers will split carries between Williams and Le’Veon Bell when he returns in Week 4 against Kansas City.

Quite simply, they won’t.

That’s why Tomlin hasn’t been concerned with giving Williams a heavy workload the first two weeks. He knows the 33-year-old will be put in park when Bell returns – until he’s needed again.

And you know what? Williams is OK with that. He just wants to win.

As Tomlin said Tuesday, “He’s been really consistent about expressing that mentality since we brought him in on free-agent visit. I think that’s one of the things that made him such an attractive free agent, that he came here and came here with one agenda and that was to win a world championship. Much like it’s the same agenda James Harrison continues to have as he continues to play. When you have guys who have achieve personal accolades, like DeAngelo with 10,000 all-plus yards and James Harrison with whatever accolades he hasn’t gotten. It’s probably a smaller list than the accolades he’s gotten. They play and they play for the right reasons. And they’re positive examples of what team ball is all about, good leaders the young guys can and do follow.”