Tim Benz: Steelers' projection changed after beating Titans; imagine what beating Ravens would do

Hype has a different tone in 2020. It’s not quite the same because of coronavirus.

Is anything?

There are no tailgates starting Sunday morn — scratch that — Friday at happy hour.

People aren’t pouring out of the bars on Carson Street waving their Terrible Towels after wins. No 1:59 a.m. revelry with a bunch of your friends, belting out a drunken rendition of “Renegade” on the jukebox just before closing time.

But there are still sports talk shows on radio and television, websites like this one and social media outlets aplenty. So there is lots of buzz about the unbeaten Steelers, despite the pandemic.

The players are trying to keep that in check, at least within their locker room.

“Yeah, we are doing well. We are undefeated,” guard David DeCastro said Monday, with a slight shrug of the shoulders. “You’ve got to get better as the season goes along. Stay healthy and make that push to the end. Everybody is excited right now. But it’s not a crazy amount of excitement.”

You wouldn’t know that from a fan point of view. Go on Twitter. After winning at previously unbeaten Tennessee, 27-24, on Sunday, optimism abounds.

Terrell Edmunds is allowing himself to bask in the moment. A bit. During a Monday Zoom interview, he beamed that he is on a 6-0 team for the first time in his football career.

But the third-year safety said his teammates were unsatisfied because they let a 24-7 halftime lead in Nashville nearly slip away. Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal at the end of the game that would’ve forced overtime.

“People are pretty mad because we haven’t played our best game,” Edmunds said. “We have put ourselves on a pedestal. We want to be a great team. That is what we are striving for. When we don’t play a great game, everyone is upset in some way. But we are happy we are 6-0 because haven’t lost yet.”

I don’t know about that. The 38-7 beatdown of Cleveland two weeks ago was a fairly complete effort. Maybe Edmunds and DeCastro are just trying to control expectations. Because now, they have risen well above the heights of that “pedestal” Edmunds was referencing.

They’ve already been pushed through the roof.

No one can argue that the eye level has changed. For so many years under Mike Tomlin, Steelers teams that could’ve been 12-4 or 11-5 ended up missing the playoffs thanks to upset losses. Both of the last two leap to mind.

Through six games, this Tomlin-coached team has avoided those pitfalls. They’ve also already won two games against opponents — Tennessee and Cleveland — that are currently within the playoff bracket. And they are now getting set to face their chief competition in the AFC North when they visit the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

You know how this works.

“Hey, if they can beat Tennessee on the road, then they can beat Baltimore on the road. And if they beat Baltimore on the road, they are going to crush the Cowboys, Bengals and Jaguars. And if they can win in Baltimore, they’ll definitely beat Baltimore at home on Thanksgiving. Now we’re looking at 11-0 and…”

And … we haven’t accounted for injuries. Bad weather. Bad officiating. Some fluke turnovers. Or a few guys on the covid list.

Variables like those are why no franchise has gone unbeaten since 1972, even though many teams have looked invincible.

It’s true, though. Barring major injuries, if the Steelers win Sunday, there isn’t a game remaining on the schedule that looks more daunting than visiting the Ravens.

Aside from getting the Ravens again Nov. 26 at Heinz Field.

There’s no reason for those who were skeptical of the Steelers returning to the playoffs to embrace that notion right now. And there’s no reason for people (like yours truly) who were predicting 10-6 and a wild-card berth to avoid having visions of the AFC North crown dancing in their heads.

And for those who were optimistic enough to have a divisional title as a potential goal this year, you’re probably already wondering how “open” the city of Tampa is going to be in February for Super Bowl Sunday.

That’s OK. That’s the way it should be. If you are 6-0 at Halloween for the first time since the Jimmy Carter administration, you’re allowed to readjust your vision of what to expect in November and December.

And where this team could be seeded in January.