Opinion: In their moment of need, Steelers make strides toward rediscovering identity

PITTSBURGH – The sideways glances came seemingly from every direction.

As the Pittsburgh Steelers’ winless streak reached its third week after a throttling at the hands of customary divisional basement dweller Cincinnati, the accusations began flying.

Mike Tomlin’s team had lost its way, everyone from analysts to fans to former franchise greats declared. Outplayed, outcoached, out-muscled and outright embarrassed in that 41-10 loss to the Bengals, the Steelers seemingly had reached their lowest point in years and struggled to get the benefit of a doubt from anyone.

Pittsburgh had played so poorly, in fact, that Tomlin didn’t even try to argue with the assessment that his squad had been reduced to a feeble, aimless shell of itself while failing to uphold the standard set by teams of years past.

When Tomlin and his team got back to work, however, the coach had two points of emphasis: a renewed commitment to physicality and the importance of embracing tradition.

A renewed emphasis on both points wound up being the recipe the Steelers needed to earn their first victory in a month as they edged the Baltimore Ravens 20-19 thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback.

With the win, the Steelers improved to 6-5-1 and kept their playoff hopes from fading further. And after a week of scrutiny, they made a statement that perhaps a turnaround remains possible.

Tomlin, now in his 15th year as Pittsburgh’s head coach, loves history. He relishes all AFC North matchups, but especially those against the Ravens, because, as he puts it, “there’s just a lot of depth to this matchup.”

The coach ticks off the legendary names that this rivalry has featured: Alan Faneca, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, “those Gold jacket types,” as Tomlin describes them before adding in Terrell Suggs and his own Ben Roethlisberger.

Tomlin stressed to his players the importance of upholding the standard of excellence set for them and what an honor it is to be a part of such an intense rivalry.

But initially on Sunday night while hosting those AFC-leading Ravens, it instead looked like more of the same struggle-filled Steeler ways.

Baltimore pushed Pittsburgh around. The Ravens offense moved up and down the field. Baltimore's defense dictated to Pittsburgh’s offense how it would play, and by halftime, the Ravens held massive edges over the Steelers in virtually every major statistical category.

But then came a late-game surge that saw the Steelers reel the Ravens in, overtake them for their first lead with less than two minutes remaining on the clock, and then hang on to escape Heinz Field with a dog-fight victory.

“Man, it was much needed,” Tomlin exhaled at his postgame news conference. “I appreciate the atmosphere Steeler Nation provided for working in the comforts of Heinz Field. I’m appreciative of the Ravens, man. …. It takes two to tango. They bring the best out of us. … So, we are appreciative of the effort and the things that inspired the victory.”

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Outside of Tomlin, who, as the tone-setter of the team, was questioned in the last week for apparently having allowed his team to lose its hard-nosed identity, perhaps no figure felt the pressure and need to rebound more intensely than did Roethlisberger.

Plagued during the 0-2-1 stretch by accuracy woes, questionable decision-making and declining physical traits, Roethlisberger looked like a player the Steelers should have parted ways with two years ago.

But Tomlin continued to back his veteran quarterback, never wavering from his stance that the 39-year-old gave the Steelers the best chance to win – especially this week of all weeks, as Roethlisberger faced the rivals against whom he had orchestrated nine game-winning drives in his career.

And Big Ben’s teammates remained confident in him as well.

“He plays well all the time, in my opinion,” defensive lineman Cam Heyward said. “He will throw picks here and there, but at the end of the day, he is a great quarterback – a Hall of Famer in my eyes, and I’m pretty sure in everybody else’s eyes as well. But at the end of the day, it’s a team game, so we all played as one. We knew the end goal was to obviously come out on top.”

Early on, Roethlisberger and his offense did little to complement the efforts of a defense that kept an often-potent Ravens offense from breaking the game open. Strong downfield pass coverage seemingly planted seeds of doubts in Lamar Jackson’s head and caused him to often hold onto the ball for too long, which led to a career-worst seven sacks for the MVP candidate.

But Roethlisberger didn’t look any better. During the first half, he had only 80 yards on 8-for-13 passing. His offense as a whole looked terrible, going 0-for-4 on third downs and gaining only 93 net yards while holding the ball for only six minutes and 30 seconds. But after halftime, the Steelers reverted a philosophy that has carried the team for decades.

Harkening back to the need for physicality, Tomlin’s squad began running the ball more after dialing up only five rushing attempts the entire first half.

Offensive improvement didn’t come right away. After punting on three of four first-half possessions, the Steelers punted twice more in the third. But there seemingly was a flicker of life, improved rhythm.

“We wanted to stay committed to the run although they were doing a good job of stopping it,” Tomlin said.

Then, as the Steelers pounded the ball in the fourth quarter and kept the Ravens off-balanced with a mix of the straight run plays and run-pass options, their attack got stronger and stronger.

Najee Harris started gashing the defensive front, Roethlisberger started carving up the secondary, and, after mustering just three points through three quarters, the Steelers outscored Baltimore 17-9 in the fourth quarter.

The final six Ravens points came on a Jackson touchdown pass to Sammy Watkins with 12 seconds left. But his two-point conversion pass to tight end Mark Andrews sailed wide and fell incomplete, preserving the Steelers’ one-point margin of victory.

“Huge win,” Roethlisberger said. “Any time you play that team, that rivalry, that’s a battle, and that’s what this game is. That was kind of the perfect Ravens-Steeler game, if you will. Huge win for us, especially at home against that team, especially after last week. Great bounce-back by everybody. Just so proud of everybody.”

Tomlin stressed, “We have to get back to work,” and Roethlisberger said every game from this point on remains a “must-win” because the remaining slate features a Thursday night date with Minnesota, then matchups against Tennessee, Kansas City, Cleveland and a rematch with Baltimore.

Does this team, seemingly on life support only a week ago, truly have what it takes for a stretch run that will elevate it from eighth in the AFC to the necessary seventh seed or better?

Time will tell, but one thing is for certain: To have a chance to do so, Tomlin and his squad can’t allow themselves to stray from the recipe that has served as their identity for decades.

Roethlisberger – likely on his farewell tour – isn’t equipped to throw 40 times a game. The already-battered offensive line isn’t up to the task of nonstop pass-blocking. And a defense with a patchwork secondary can’t hold up if the offense continually goes three-and-out, as has often been the case in the last month.

The throwback approach of a commitment to the run game and a physical, punishing does, however, give the Steelers a chance.

Tomlin coaxed just enough out of his aging and battered squad to top the Ravens on Sunday. If he can continue to do so, the Steelers just might make things interesting down the homestretch.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pittsburgh Steelers find long-missing elements in their moment of need