Steelers take the lead the old-fashioned way

“I'm not too worried about that,” Fields said of his critics. “I'm more concerned with proving myself right. I know what kind of player I am. I haven't changed my whole life. At the end of the day, my teammates help me be great. Kudos to them, kudos to our defense, kudos to everyone else on offense who pushed me every day at practice and that's just a credit to them. Honestly, I'm definitely happy and just feel good to be in this position.”

The Steelers are 3-0 and Fields has won three games in a row for the first time in his career.

Fields had won two games in a row three times during his time with the Bears. But he had not managed three wins in a row until Sunday.

We'll see if he gets a chance to go 4-0 or if Russell Wilson is ready next week against Indianapolis.

“It means a lot to me, but at the end of the day, it's not just me winning games. It's the whole team,” Fields said. “I'm just happy to be part of this team, happy to be part of this organization, and we're excited to keep going next week against Indy.”

• Sunday's win, along with Cleveland's inexplicable home loss to the Giants, gives the Steelers a two-game lead in the AFC North.

More importantly, the 3-0 score has some significance.

Since 2000, teams that opened the season 3-0 made the playoffs 75.2 percent of the time and won their division 51.5 percent of the time.

That's a big difference from a 2-1 start. Those teams have reached the postseason 54.8 percent of the time and won the division 32.1 percent of the time.

The Steelers are playing well in many phases, but are not yet where they want to be.

“That's the way it is with any team in general,” said Queen, one of many new faces on the lineup. “The longer the season goes on, the more you gel with each other. The chemistry gets better. The more the coaching staff gets to know what you like. For us, it's still about getting a feel for it and figuring out what plays we like.”

Injuries, especially on the offensive line, have hit the Steelers hard early on. But they could get left guard Isaac Seumalo, who missed the first three games with a pectoral muscle injury, back next week against the Colts.

And after the game against Indianapolis, reserve offensive tackle Dylan Cook will be allowed to return from the injured list. That may not seem like a big deal, but with rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu being placed on the injured list on Saturday, the depth of the Steelers' offensive line was tested early.

The return of these two players will go a long way towards restoring this status.

For a team like the Steelers that places so much emphasis on running games, this is huge.

The Steelers had planned to use six offensive linemen in this game, with Fautanu staying healthy, and to use Broderick Jones in those cases. However, with Fautanu injured, rookie guard Mason McCormick had to step in as an additional lineman.