4 Steelers and NFL questions to start Week 6: What is the team in the mirror?

Adam Bittner / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers dropped a 20-17 decision against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at Acrisure Stadium. Here are four questions for them and the rest of the NFL to ponder ahead of Week 6, when they’ll face the Raiders in Las Vegas.

Is the Steelers’ identity going to have to change? The Steelers want to win with elite defense but gave up long drives to the Cowboys all night. They couldn’t stop the deep pass, allowing five Dallas receivers to catch passes of at least 22 yards. In the second half, they couldn’t stop the run, as Rico Dowdle ran for nearly 100 yards on the evening. Without Alex Highsmith and later Nick Herbig, the defense was simply dominated physically. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers want to be the physical team imposing their will with the run in second halves. But the patchwork offensive line could not open many holes for the backs. Najee Harris again mostly failed to make anyone miss to help compensate, totaling just 42 yards on 14 carries. Both Jaylen Warren and Cordarrelle Patterson missed the game because of injuries. Any offense this team is generating is flowing through Justin Fields at quarterback right now, and that same pressure would likely be on Russell Wilson were he to assume the starting role. It’s important that the coaching staff recognize that the mold is, more or less, broken at the moment. And if the Steelers are going to win over the next several weeks, they’re going to have to demonstrate a willingness to leave their comfort zone. Allow for more aggression offensively knowing that their average of 18.4 points per game to this point probably will not be enough to win most weeks. At least until they can get some of their key personnel back in proper roles.

Is Houston the class of the AFC right now? There’s a solid argument to be made after the Texans’ 23-20 victory against Buffalo on Sunday. The defending-champion Chiefs are looking for targets for Patrick Mahomes to throw to after season-ending injuries to both Rashee Rice and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Running back Isiah Pacheco is also navigating a serious injury. And both the Bills and Ravens have been inconsistent despite being tabbed as Super Bowl contenders with Josh Allen and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson at quarterback, respectively. The Texans, meanwhile, are 4-1. QB C.J. Stroud was cooking Sunday with 331 yards and an explosive average of 8.7 yards per attempt. Receiver Stefon Diggs tore up his former team for 82 yards on six catches. And teammate Nico Collins has been even better, having already cracked the 500-yard mark for the season with 78 and a touchdown against the Bills. FanDuel gave them the fourth-best Super Bowl odds as of Sunday, trailing only the Chiefs and Ravens within the AFC. Much work remains to be done, but this team is looking like a serious threat to win the No. 1 seed if it can keep its playmakers healthy.

Are the Ravens finding another gear offensively? The Bengals certainly couldn’t stop them Sunday, yielding 520 yards to Jackson and Co. in a 41-38 loss to Baltimore. Jackson — oft-maligned for his passing abilities — piled up 348 yards and four scores with no interceptions to keep pace with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, who himself was pretty incredible with 392 yards and five scores in the shootout overtime loss. The running game led by star free agent addition Derrick Henry was productive, too, totaling 175 yards at the healthy average of 5.1 per carry. Defense remains something of a concern with this team. It’s allowed at least 25 points in four of its five games to date. But that may not matter if Jackson keeps the offense humming like this. At 3-2, the Ravens are pretty much out of the early-season hole they dug themselves with an 0-2 start. The Bengals, however, are hurting at 1-4, having wasted an incredible day for Burrow. At least their schedule lightens with games against the Giants, Raiders and Browns in the coming weeks.

Can the Jets be taken seriously as a playoff contender? With the division race tightening for the Steelers, the AFC wild card race is worth monitoring. New York was widely expected to be in that mix with the return of Aaron Rodgers from injury, but they’ve far from lived up to those expectations so far. Rodgers was terrible in a 23-17 loss to Minnesota on Sunday, throwing three picks while completing just 29 of his 54 passes. His QB rating for the season is a subpar at 81.6. That would be the lowest mark of his career, excluding seasons in which he saw limited duty in 2005-06 and last year. Running back Breece Hall, meanwhile, is down to an average of 3.0 yards per carry for the year after gaining just 23 on nine carries Sunday. That’s down from 5.8 his rookie year in 2022 and 4.5 last season. Compounding coach Robert Saleh’s problem is a brutal upcoming schedule that includes dates with the Bills, Steelers and Texans in three of the next four games. Realistically, this team could be pretty well buried by the end of the month if Rodgers doesn’t find something resembling his Hall of Fame form soon.