3 Takeaways from Steelers' Week 10 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers remain undefeated after embarrassing the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon. Their 36-10 victory was both a statement and a relief following three close games that were only decided in the final minutes.

The Steelers can and should dominate lesser teams. They failed to do so against the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. They did against Cincinnati, and in doing so, showed that they are perhaps the most dangerous team in football.

Pittsburgh looked and played like a championship-caliber team on Sunday. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Week 10 win.

The Steelers Have a Super Bowl Defense

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When the Steelers lost star linebacker Devin Bush for the season roughly a month ago, it could have deflated what was a very dangerous defense. Instead, linebacker Robert Spillane has filled in nicely, and the defense as a whole has continued to thrive.

Pittsburgh showed just how dominant it can be on Sunday, holding Cincinnati to 10 points and 16 first downs while forcing two turnovers. While the 2-6-1 Bengals don't represent the best that the AFC has to offer, rookie quarterback Joe Burrow has made more than a few defenses look silly this season.

Against Burrow, the Steelers looked superb.

The reality is that Pittsburgh's defense—which is ranked third in scoring and sixth overall—is arguably the best in the NFL. Headlined by players such as Minkah Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward, this is a defense that can carry the Steelers to the Super Bowl.

Ben Roethlisberger Is Playing Elite Football

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

It's highly unlikely that Pittsburgh will actually need to ride its defense much this season. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has fully recovered from last year's elbow injury and is playing as well as he has in recent memory.

"I've never seen him better," Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote.

Roethlisberger may no longer have the cannon he once did, but he's become a master at locating the open man and distributing the football. On Sunday, he hit seven different receivers en route to 333 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Big Ben now has 22 touchdowns on the season to go with just four interceptions. Five different players have caught three touchdowns or more from him.

With Roethlisberger under center, the Steelers offense looks nothing like the ho-hum unit it was in 2019. The Mason Rudolph-Devlin Hodges offense held back a championship-caliber defense. This offense is going to complement one.

Yes, This Team Could Go Undefeated

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

While only one team in league history has gone 16-0 in the regular season, the Steelers have a legitimate chance of doing it in 2020. Winning seven more games won't be easy, but if Pittsburgh plays like it did Sunday, it could happen.

If the Steelers can again outclass Cincinnati, they should have four nearly guaranteed wins remaining on the schedule—they also face the Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Football Team and Cleveland Browns. The toughest remaining matchups are against the Ravens—a team the Steelers have already beaten—the Indianapolis Colts and the Buffalo Bills.

Both the Colts and the Bills have been inconsistent this season. Indy has lost to teams like Cleveland, while the Bills tend to go as quarterback Josh Allen does.

There isn't a game on the remaining schedule that Steelers fans should view as a likely loss. While the odds are against Pittsburgh producing a perfect season, it is as close to perfect as any team in the NFL right now.