Steelers and Kenny Pickett exorcise some offensive demons while eking out win over Titans

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a team whose fan base is in open revolt against their offensive coordinator, with seriously questionable play from their former first-round quarterback. They are also 5-3, and wins like Thursday's are the reason why.

With a just-good-enough offensive performance, the Steelers defeated the Tennessee Titans 20-16 on "Thursday Night Football," an experience that still saw repeated booing from the Acrisure Stadium crowd in Pittsburgh. The win is their third in their last four games and moves them into second in the AFC North.

There were plenty ofregrettable throws by Pickett, who was a game-time decision with ribs injury. At one point, a Steelers coached batted down a pass thrown out of bounds in apparent frustration. In the biggest play of the game, however, he threw a 32-yard dime to Diontae Johnson to put Pittsburgh on the verge of the red zone.

The Steelers' running game was still the superior unit, with Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris combining for 157 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries (6.3 yards per run). That a 22-yard run by Harris to put the Steelers on the Titans' 1-yard line later in the drive.

It still took four bites at the apple — with a no-gain run, a false start and a defensive holding penalty — but the Steelers finally broke through with a pass to Diontae Johnson.

That touchdown was a long time coming for Johnson, whose last score came on a pass from Ben Roethlisberger in Week 16 of the 2021 season.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the point-after attempt and a good return by Tyjae Spears gave the Titans the ball on their own 48-yard line, but they couldn't get a first down. The drive ended on a fourth-down incompletion to Treylon Burks, who didn't get up from the field and was eventually carted out of the stadium and to the hospital.

The Steelers couldn't get much on the next drive, giving the Titans the ball back with 1:44 left. That drive was more successful, but still ended with an interception to Kwon Alexander in the end zone for the only turnover of the game.

None of this was pretty for Pittsburgh, but that's been a recurring theme this season. Per CBS Sports' Doug Clawson, they are the first team in the Super Bowl era to be outgained in every game and hold a winning record through eight games. They were outgained 340-326 in this game.

Steelers got their first opening-drive TD

The Steelers provided plenty of reason for confidence at the beginning of the game by exorcising their most persistent demon this season.

No fact has been used more to sum up Canada's incompetence than the fact the Steelers had not scored on their opening drive this season. Not just scored a touchdown, just score. In fact, they had gained only 38 yards total on such drives in seven games, with two turnovers. These are the drives that show the results of a week of prep, with little chance for the defense to make adjustments, and Pittsburgh had been comically awful all season.

So naturally, the Steelers opened the game with a 10-play, 78-yard drive capped off with a Najee Harris touchdown run:

Pickett picked up 62 of his passing yards on that drive and overall looked solid. Steelers fans were booing the offense after a three-and-out on the next drive.

The Steelers got an opening-drive touchdown and a Diontae Johnson score, two things they were majorly lacking all season. What wasn't great? Those were their only touchdowns of the game.

Will Levis shows more promise despite loss

If there was a more impressive quarterback on the field Thursday, it was probably the second-game quarterback rather than the second-year quarterback.

Titans rookie Will Levis didn't hit the wild highs of his debut last week, but he showed plenty of gumption against a Steelers defense that was regularly in his backfield. Levis was sacked four times and hurried plenty more times, which didn't stop him from showing some serious talent.

At this point, it's probably in the Titans' interest to stay the course with Levis rather than go back to Ryan Tannehill when the veteran returns from injury. At 3-5, the team's playoffs odds this season are already looking pretty long, and the offense simply seems better with the rookie calling the shots.