BALTIMORE (93.7 The Fan) – There have been doubters all the way. First it was the quality of teams they played. Then it was 'it's just the Browns'. Then some eyes opened, but concerns in the second half may have tarnished the win in Tennessee.
Now after a win in Baltimore, the 7-0 Steelers may finally have proved they are the best team in the NFL.
"Day in and day out, even my friends, people are saying if you beat the Ravens then you are legit," said tight end Eric Ebron. "I was like 'bro, we are 6-0, how are we not a legit unit?'"
"Now that we beat the Ravens, I want people to understand that we are legit and we are coming with our A-game every single time. We look adversity in the face and we attack it"
"This is a really, really good football team," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of his guys. "They (Baltimore) are ranked high on defense for a reason. They got after us and it wasn't pretty."
"Nothing about this game was pretty from our perspective until the game was over and we looked at the scoreboard and saw that we won. At the end of the day, that is all that matters."
"Man this is what we signed up for this is why we do what we do at this level be it coach or player or anybody," said head coach Mike Tomlin. "You want to be in these stadiums. You want to have Nantz and Romo call your games. You know you are in the right building. We are honored to be a part of it."
"You know they are a good team," said defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who finished with 9 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries. "You know they are a great team. To come here and steal a win, especially against a tough opponent and division opponent, is big."
It was the first Ravens game for rookie outside linebacker Alex Highsmith, who was a part of a special three outside linebacker package and picked off Lamar Jackson on the first Ravens play of the third quarter.
"It's huge," Highsmith said. "You know the Steelers and Ravens game, it's the best rivalry in football. It's my first time being in it and I know this game weighs a lot more."
"It was awesome to come on top in this game and to be able to win in their stadium. It was a great team win. We really rallied back in the second half and made some great plays to come out on top."
His first time starting in a game against the Ravens, middle linebacker Robert Spillane had a game-high 11 tackles, a fumble recovery, tackle for loss and an interception returned for a touchdown on the third play of the game.
"As I'm sure you can see from everyone's social media how exciting that locker room was after a game," Spillane said. "There is just so much energy on this team across the board and I'm thankful to be a part of it."
TJ Watt said they are happy to win whether it's good, bad or ugly.
"It was big," Watt said. "These are very hard games to come by, hard wins to come by in the National Football League. Every team is phenomenal. An in-division game, a rivalry like this, to be able to walk out of a building on the road with a win gives us a lot of momentum. But there will be a lot of great film to learn from, from this game."
And that's where Tomlin left it, like a true coach.
"It's good today, but means nothing for tomorrow," Tomlin said. "The totality of it is, regardless of these experiences we have to continue to be a group of the rise and understand that the bigger challenges and bigger opportunities are in front of us."
Steelers finish their three game road-trip Sunday at Dallas.
