The Steelers showed they can move the ball. They’re hoping points will follow when Arizona visits

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The stat sheet looked nice. For once. The scoreboard, not so much.

For all the tangible progress the Pittsburgh Steelers made in their post-Matt Canada era debut while piling up 421 yards during a 16-10 win over Cincinnati, for all the welcome good vibes those yards generated, the Steelers still managed one measly touchdown.

Again.

Pittsburgh (7-4) somehow remains firmly in the AFC playoff picture heading into Sunday’s visit by listless Arizona (2-10) despite an offense that’s scored one touchdown (or fewer) in seven of their 11 games.

Quarterback Kenny Pickett understands it’s time — likely well past time — for the Steelers to stop relying on their T.J. Watt-led defense to bail them out.

“Points. Points. That’s what we want,” Pickett said. “We want points. Yards are great, you know, yards are great, but points win you games.”

Pittsburgh somehow hasn’t needed many of them to enter December in the top spot in the AFC wild-card race. Yet there were flashes in Cincinnati of a team that seems to be building momentum.

Pickett threw for a season-high 278 yards. The running game topped 150 yards for a fourth straight week. The Steelers didn’t have a single three-and-out and reached the red zone four times.

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The next step, the most important step, will be translating that kind of productivity into the kind of production that teams that expect to play deep into January put up regularly. The kind of production that’s been awfully hard to come by for a team that hasn’t scored 30 points in a game it’s won since the giddy highs of an 11-0 start to the 2020 season.

“You know, when we got to the red zone, we just had a negative play or penalty we felt like that it kind of took us out of that rhythm, that really good rhythm that we were having,” Pickett said. “So, if we get that fixed, you know, the points will follow.”

Arizona offers a chance for the Steelers to take another positive step forward. The Cardinals gave up 37 points and more than 450 yards while getting drilled at home by the Los Angeles Rams last week, and the brief wave of excitement generated by quarterback Kyler Murray’s return from a torn ACL in mid-November has faded.

While the Steelers are pointing to the playoffs, Arizona and first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon are in the midst of a building process that is still in its very early stages.

The goal over the next six weeks isn’t so much about winning as it is about establishing the kind of culture that Gannon will see when he glances across the field to longtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on Sunday.

“His team always plays with a level of physicality and belief that they’re going to win every game they play,” Gannon said. “It’s very impressive to watch them, all three units, on tape year to year or week to week — whatever it is.”

It’s been much the same in 2023. Barring a collapse, Pittsburgh is assured of a 17th straight non-losing season with Tomlin at the helm.

Yet the franchise’s goals are far higher than just being competitive. What they’d like to be — on both sides of the ball — is dominant. Sunday offers a chance for the scales between the offense and the defense to even out a bit.

CONNER’S RETURN

Cardinals running back James Conner faces the Steelers for the first time since leaving the franchise after the 2020 season. The now 28-year-old Conner, who starred at the University of Pittsburgh before moving across the building the Panthers share with the Steelers, was a Pro Bowl selection in 2018 when he ran for a career-high 973 yards.

“I feel the love for sure,” Conner said. “Lot of love there in the city. I’ve got a lot of respect for the people there — just love for them taking a chance on me.”

Conner has continued his solid production since coming to the desert. He earned his second Pro Bowl nod with the Cardinals after scoring a career-high 18 touchdowns in 2021, including 15 on the ground and three through the air.

He’s run for 526 yards and two touchdowns this season despite missing four games on injured reserve with a knee injury.

WATT IS UP

Tomlin called Watt “the best defensive player on the planet right now” and it’s hard to argue. The perennial All-Pro outside linebacker is putting together a season that mirrors his 2021 campaign when he was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year. His 13 1/2 sacks lead the NFL and he is seemingly making an impact every week.

While Murray has proven he can still make plays with his legs on his reconstructed right knee, he’s also been sacked nine times in three games.

“(Watt is) going to make plays, he’s unstoppable,” Conner said of his former teammate. “He’s one of the best in the game right now. So we’ve got our hands full with him for sure.”

LATE BYE

This will be Arizona’s 13th straight weekend with a game. The team gets its bye week after playing the Steelers. The Cardinals certainly look like a team that could use a break — they’ve lost eight of their past nine and got thumped 37-14 by the Los Angeles Rams at home last week.

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AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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