Are the Steelers actually a good 3-0 team?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-0, but are they actually a good team?

At this point in an NFL season, the catch-phrases can get thick. You can only play the teams on your schedule, you are what your record says you are, they say. The standings say the Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-0, and if the Baltimore Ravens lose to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night they will lead the AFC North by themselves.

From early in the second quarter on during Sunday’s game, the Steelers outscored the Houston Texans 25-7 to escape with a 28-21 win and stay unbeaten. The reverse happened in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, as backup quarterback Jeff Driskel nearly led a comeback that fell short in a 26-21 win for Pittsburgh.

The Steelers did relatively take care of business against the New York Giants in Week 1, winning 26-16. But the Giants actually led that game 10-9 until just before halftime, and the Steelers didn’t lead by more than one score until early in final quarter.

So are the Steelers actually good?

Pittsburgh’s three wins have come against teams with a combined record of 0-9. The Texans have had a tough gauntlet to start the season (Chiefs and Ravens previously), so that win may look better for the Steelers as time goes on. But the Giants have looked pretty bad, due in part to injuries (Saquon Barkley), and Denver’s backup quarterback with 14 appearances and nine starts now on his resume rendered a game far closer than it probably should have been.

In Week 4, the Steelers will face another flimsy-looking 3-0 team in the Tennessee Titans (1-8 combined record of opponents, combined margin of victory of six points). Barring a tie, someone will emerge from that game 4-0 with what will be marked as their best win of the season thus far.

After the Titans, the Steelers will play the Philadelphia  Eagles and the Cleveland Browns. So they could be 6-0 heading into a Week 7 matchup against the rival Ravens in Baltimore, with their first true test against a better team coming then.

The Steelers, to their credit, have found a way to win games where lesser teams might have fallen short. But good enough to win is just that, good but far from great.