Jason Mackey: Despite warts and injuries, Steelers are in a solid spot entering their bye week

DUBLIN — The Guinness was tasty — and clearly different out of an Irish tap. Croke Park was rocking. The entire trip was a smashing success, with the Steelers on Sunday punctuating it with a 24-21 victory over the Vikings where they re-established some important facets of their game.

But something else happened along the journey, a point easy to overlook with all we've had chew on through four weeks. In addition to fish and chips, of course.

Despite what feels like a metric ton of storylines thus far, the Steelers are actually in decent shape entering their bye week. They're very much in the thick of things in the AFC.

Yes, I know they're "leaking," as Mike Tomlin pointed out early Sunday evening over here. They need to get Joey Porter Jr. back. Jalen Ramsey, too. Calvin Austin III being taken to the hospital over a shoulder injury sounded concerning, and the Steelers have work to do on both sides of the ball — we'll get there.

Same time, look around the NFL, specifically the AFC. Does anyone other than the Bills truly scare you?

Maybe the Chiefs or the Chargers. Still not counting out the Ravens. But right now Baltimore is 1-3, the same as the Texans, and the Ravens have injury concerns with quarterback Lamar Jackson, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, linebacker Roquan Smith and their top two cornerbacks. The Broncos were 1-2 going into Monday night, Kansas City has looked mortal at times, and the Bengals lost Joe Burrow.

The Steelers going 3-1 with a few positive, ongoing trends should inspire confidence, although I also agree with Cam Heyward.

"We're getting there," Heyward said. "It's Week 4. We're not done. We've got a lot of room to improve. But I like the way we're trending."

The past two weeks, especially. It's looked how you would expect the highest-paid defense in the NFL to look, honestly. At all three levels.

We've seen how important it is to have someone like Derrick Harmon up front. Meanwhile, Keeanu Benton on Sunday took advantage of some Minnesota injuries and depth issues and had his best game as a Steeler — 1.5 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, 4 total tackles and a tackle for a loss. So much for benching him.

Linebacker-wise, Payton Wilson answered plenty of questions involving his abilities or job status, making a game-high 13 tackles, including two for a loss, and chasing down Jordan Addison on an 81-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Patrick Queen (11 tackles, a sack, 3 tackles for loss) was also very good.

Having DeShon Elliott back clearly matters, as he did about everything you could expect a defender to do: 6 tackles, a sack, an interception, a tackle for loss, 2 passes defensed, 2 quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

Lastly, the Steelers have seen the continued growth of Nick Herbig, who followed a strong game against the Patriots with another stellar effort in Ireland, compiling 5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss and 3 quarterback hits. When Alex Highsmith does return, I'm not sure it should diminish Herbig's playing time.

Big picture, though, this is what you want. Development and improvement. Yes, I know the fourth quarter in Ireland wasn't good, the same for some of what they allowed Drake Maye to do at Gillette Stadium.

But as they say in baseball, it'll play, especially when you hold the other team to 70 rushing yards.

"It's like we talk about every week," T.J. Watt said. "It's fun to make teams one-dimensional. Obviously, that's us doing our job. That's the offense doing its job. Special teams had some great plays, too. It's a whole lot of fun, man. "

The Steelers have allowed 98 points through four games, which obviously isn't great. Only four teams in the AFC have given up more. But looking at the past two weeks and comparing them to the first two, I'd argue that number is slightly misleading. Especially if the Steelers can actually stop the run.

There are similar signs of progress and reason for hope offensively. If the Steelers found a recipe with moving DK Metcalf around and making an extra effort to get him the ball, great. Perhaps it takes Spencer Anderson and a six-man line to ignite the running game. Hey, whatever works.

The Steelers also have the best quarterback-receiver combo since Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, and you'd really have to think they'll eventually figure out how to unlock two talented tight ends in Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith.

Of course, none of that makes me think the Steelers are suddenly capable of winning 12 or 13 games and reaching the AFC championship game. I haven't had that much Guinness. It's more the idea that other teams have warts, too.

It's easy to get caught up in the reactionary minutiae that makes the NFL great, but the Steelers are actually in decent shape, their defense accumulating 11 sacks and seven turnovers the past two weeks.

They won three of four, as expected, during the first quarter of their season. And did so by learning a great deal about themselves.

Now, the challenge will be getting guys healthy and building upon a lot of what has already happened.

"We're 3-1, and that's all that matters," Tomlin said. "Would I like to be 4-0? Certainly. But we are what we are. I've learned not to kid myself. You are what your record says you are. So that's what we are going into the bye, and I can take it."

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