It's only natural for Steelers fans to look ahead, to see what the bigger picture is with three regular season games remaining and the Steelers in the playoff hunt.
But for the players, there is no looking ahead, no scoreboard watching, nothing of the kind.
For them, it's about one thing and one thing only...beating the Denver Broncos this Sunday at Heinz Field.
"It's about being 1-0 right now," said nose tackle Steve McLendon. "The main focus right now is beating Denver. We have to come in here, work hard and do everything that is necessary to win. I feel like if we do everything like we did the last two weeks we will be successful in being 1-0 this week."
The Steelers are coming off an emotional AFC North win over the division leading Cincinnati Bengals, and completely understand that they have to maintain the same intensity this week that was visible last week.
"There is never going to be a letdown," said McLendon. "We stay on our game plan. We are focusing on ourselves, our players and what we can do to help our team win. We have the whole week to prepare for the game, and when we know we put all of the preparation in, our goal is to just give 100 percent effort on game day. We just want to go 1-0 this week."
Keeping that energy level, that focus high is something veterans don't need to preach this time of year. Younger players see it in their actions, actions of players like veteran safety Will Allen who greeted his teammates at the door to the locker room after the Bengals win.
"I was just excited about the energy and effort we put in," said Allen. "We have taken notice and understand what we are playing for and why we are playing the game. We are all in it together. We have to keep fighting every game and keep getting the same energy and effort every game.
"I am just excited about the opportunity that we have in front of us this week."
