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‘Perfecting the Art of Winning Ugliness:’ CBS Sports Gives Steelers ‘B’ Grade in Win Over Broncos
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‘Perfecting the Art of Winning Ugliness:’ CBS Sports Gives Steelers ‘B’ Grade in Win Over Broncos

It didn’t look pretty, but the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to pull off a 13-6 road win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, improving their young season record to 2-0 while fielding backup quarterback Justin Fields.

In that win over the Broncos, the Steelers did what they normally do. Run the football, avoid the killer turnover, play great defense, and steal the football, leading to low-scoring games that the Steelers largely control and ultimately end up on the right side of things.

For the second week in a row, that was the case for Mike Tomlin’s team. This week, it earned a “B” from CBS Sports’ John Breech, who declared that the Steelers have perfected “the art of winning ugly.”

“When you put a Mike Tomlin defense against a rookie quarterback, the Steelers dominate and that’s exactly what happened in this game. The defense smothered Bo Nix: the Broncos had 11 possessions and seven of those ended in a three-and-out or an interception,” Breech wrote of the Steelers, giving his grade to the Black and Gold. “The Steelers offense wasn’t flashy, but Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren kept things moving by averaging over 4 yards per carry.

“In recent years, no team has perfected the art of winning ugly like the Steelers and they continued that trend with this win in Denver.”

That’s pretty accurate of Breech. The Steelers have found ways to win low-scoring, ugly games time and time again in recent years. It’s not luck at this point, either. It’s a trait of the Steelers, and it works during the regular season.

The Steelers are built around a star defense led by the pass rush in TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith and Cameron Heyward, not to mention All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick on the back end. They limit the opposing offense, keep everything in front of them and take the ball away.

That was the case again on Sunday when the Steelers really put pressure on Denver’s offense with two interceptions and multiple sacks on rookie quarterback Bo Nix, and got enough out of their own offense – which had to overcome a ton of penalties – to pull out the win.

It’s not about how many teams in today’s NFL draft things, but for the Steelers, it’s a formula that works, at least during the regular season. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but the Steelers are comfortable with that style and are doing what matters most every week: winning football games.

There are no style points awarded. The only thing that matters is getting a win. The Steelers have embraced that.