The 2017 Steelers remain very much a work in progress, but even after two relatively uneven performances, I feel that I "know" some things about this team.

1. AB is not human. Xavier Rhodes is about as good as CB as you are gonna find, and AB still reeled in some ridiculous catches. Rhodes significantly slowed AB, but he simply can not be totally covered by any single player.

2. If Martavis Bryant gets even with the defender, it is either a PI call or a completion the overwhelming majority of the time. Despite the conventional wisdom that 2 of the 3 possible outcomes of a forward pass are bad - Bryant may make that only 1 bad outcome. Bonus sub thing I know about Bryant - NFL defenders need to redefine their angles and depths on him. At least twice this past Sunday, the safety had Bryant coming towards him at an angle and still wasn't able to give enough ground to make the play. Incredible.

3. I totally forgot that Cam Heyward can take over a game. Just plum forgot.

4. Father Time has not defeated James Harrison, but he might've out-schemed him. I think that Harrison simply can not, at 39, do what Butler has the young OLBers doing. The depth of coverage drops and the extent that Dupree, Watt, and Chickillo have all been following receivers laterally is unprecedented for recent Steelers OLB. Harrison and Moats are not who you want doing those things - so they aren't.

5. Oh, my - those OLB's. Dupree looks primed to take a step towards just terrorizing opposing tackles. Watt is better than advertised. Chickillo, well he is clearly more than "just a guy". Never so happy to be wrong.

6. Mike Hilton has taken Gay's job. Snap counts don't lie.

7. Secondary remains a work in progress. But the pass rush is going to help them out.

8. The depth of weapons on offense is simply staggering. Watson is the third best RB on the team. Think about that for a moment. Eli Rogers may be the 4th or 5th best WR on the team. A former 1st round pick at WR can't even get a helmet on game day.

9. Jesse James looks like he spent every waking moment of the off-season moving iron to build his new jacked arms. Doesn't seem to matter. He can't block. Run. Pass. Whatever. James is a very poor blocker. It hurts the scheme and I hope that McDonald can get up to speed.

10. The youth and speed up and down this roster is really impressive and comes through on game day.

11. Competent special teams? I'm not ready for that.

12. Mike Tomlin and his emotions make really odd game day decisions and this will never change. 47 yard field goal? Sure! Oops penalty - PUNT! Hey, another penalty and a 47 yard field goal? NOPE! PUNT! Take the points Mike, take the points.

BONUS NFL OBSERVATION:
1. September football is bad football.
2. Anyone still want to tell me that Kapernick isn't a better QB than Tolzien, Bortles, Hoyer, Savage, Kizer, Watson, and a few other scattered "quarterbacks" that we have been subjected to the first few games. There is some historically bad QB play out there!