Steelers work well as underdogs

“Hopefully we can enjoy this win and not be like, ‘Ah, we’re the greatest team ever. We’ve got to continue to stay grounded. We’ve got to continue to work hard. We’ve got to continue to have a chip on our shoulder and continue to work like we’re underdogs.”– Brett, from an article by Scott Brown, ESPN.com.

The Steelers might not be underdogs by Las Vegas standards any time soon.

Their next three games are against teams that have a 1-8 record, and they host winless Tampa Bay on Sunday.

It was Keisel who sent a pointed message to his teammates last Monday when he said the Steelers players could not assume success is a given based on what they have done in the past, no what the level.

The 13^th-year veteran also said less than a week after a 26-6 loss in Baltimore that it was incumbent upon all of the players to wring everything they could out of every work day — whether it was in the weight room, a meeting room or on the practice field.

Keisel did not stray from that message even in the afterglow of a victorious locker room in Carolina.

“You’ve got to stay humble,” he said. “You’ve got to have that urgency when you come to work and prepare. It’s gotta be a weekly thing.”