Mark Madden: Week 4 game at Tennessee will be true test for Steelers

The Steelers and their fans have to be satisfied with 3-0. They can’t be better. No team has ever been 4-0 after three games.

But it’s tough to feel like the Steelers have accomplished much.

The Steelers’ three foes to date have a combined mark of 0-9. The New York Giants and Denver are not better than their record. If Houston is, it’s marginally so. The Texans have a few big-money stars but execute haphazardly. They have more gaping holes than they do playmakers.

Sunday at Tennessee is a true test for the Steelers.

The Titans are 3-0. Ryan Tannehill is better than Deshaun Watson, who is slightly overrated and way overpaid (although that’s just what quarterbacks get now).

Tennessee’s run-heavy, bruising style of offense means preparing to defend the Titans entails starting from scratch. No other offense is quite like theirs. Houston’s certainly isn’t. Running back Derrick Henry enables the Titans to beat you up while they have the ball.

Can the Steelers’ defense cope? It played its best 30 minutes of the season in this past Sunday’s second half, but, again, Houston is 0-3. But Texans back David Johnson isn’t chopped liver, and he managed just 23 yards on 13 carries.

The most interesting facet of the Steelers’ third win was their dedication to finding balance and identity on offense. Credit goes to Randy Fichtner, which seems a foreign concept. The offensive coordinator often absorbs blame but rarely gets praise. Not that Fichtner always deserves it.

But after passing an absurd two-thirds of the snaps against Denver, Ben Roethlisberger dropped back to throw 38 times vs. Houston and handed off 33 times. Maybe the gameplan was influenced by Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro’s return from injury to make his first start of the season. Perhaps the silliness of last week’s uneven split sank in, not least with Roethlisberger.

But DeCastro was pulling from right guard. Matt Feiler was pulling from left guard. Maurkice Pouncey even pulled from center. It was a masterclass of run blocking from a line that has engendered doubt about its ability thereof — and still does. It’s only one game.

But, on the day, it was dizzying. Roethlisberger even got out in front and blocked on one play. (Memo to Ben: Don’t do that.)

James Conner had 109 yards on 18 carries. Conner’s ability provides little doubt. His durability is a big problem.

Conner topping 100 yards in two consecutive games doesn’t beggar belief. Conner starting and finishing two straight contests is utterly miraculous.

Rookie Anthony McFarland got 42 yards on six carries. After fumbling in each of the first two games, Benny Snell didn’t put the ball on the ground vs. Houston. Nor did he get far carrying it.

Will the Steelers continue to commit to the run as on Sunday? As mentioned in this space previously, it’s whatever Roethlisberger wants. But they simply must.

The Steelers ran 76 plays to Houston’s 47. They had the ball 36 minutes, 51 seconds, Houston 23:09. Those numbers make it almost impossible to lose, and that’s because of the running game.

The Steelers broke the Texans. Despite a close score, Houston looked tired and resigned by game’s end.

Tennessee is undefeated, but isn’t the ’72 Miami Dolphins.

Their foes to date are a combined 1-8. The Titans have won games by two, three and one.

Maybe the Steelers and Tennessee are both imposters. Maybe neither is.

But local fans (and quite a few of the national media) seem to think the Steelers are the third-best team in the AFC behind Kansas City and Baltimore. Sunday’s game vs. Tennessee seems a de facto playoff for that informal title, however temporarily.

Buffalo is 3-0, but buying into the Bills is hard because they’re the Bills. New England (2-1) will win the AFC East.

I predicted the Steelers to go 10-6 and stand by that despite their 3-0 start. But beating a team that’s also 3-0 could go a long way toward promulgating the notion something special is possible. Heck, it would be nice just to beat a team that’s won a game.