Calm has returned to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Left for dead after an 0-4 start, the Steelers are back on the radar after two straight wins, including a had-to-have-it victory over rival Baltimore Ravenson Sunday.
Up next is a trip to The Black Hole for a Week 8 meeting with the Oakland Raiders. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spoke about the team's uphill climb this week on "The Rich Eisen Podcast."
"We were getting better every week. I know it wasn't showing on the win-loss column, but every week we were getting a little bit better," Roethlisberger said of the team's winless start. "I think the biggest issue was offensively, we were just turning the ball over too much. And we eliminated that the last two weeks."
The turnover issue went both ways. While the offense made mistakes, the defense failed to create a turnover until Week 5. Roethlisberger told Eisen it was like "we were shooting ourselves in both feet." Roethlisberger was asked how the return of running back Le'Veon Bell has helped the offense.
"It was great having him out there," Roethlisberger said. "I've always said being a balanced offense makes us the most dangerous. He's done a great job coming in, being a threat in the run game and he's done some good things in the pass game."
Optimism has returned to Pittsburgh, but let's keep things in perspective here. The Steelers are working with a razor-thin margin for error. Sunday counts as something close to another must-win.
Listen to the entire episode of "The Rich Eisen Podcast," with Roethlisberger, Dennis Miller and Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee.
