Saying that a team has an identity (or needs an identity) is probably the most surface-level analysis that someone can deliver about a team. Most of the time, it doesn’t mean very much, other than that the team is good at something (or isn’t really good at anything).

Being good at one thing, from an Xs and Os perspective, isn’t all that valuable. NFL history is littered with teams that were very good at one thing, but not very good at all overall. 

One thing, no matter how good you are at that thing, is usually pretty easy for another team to game plan around. 

What usually makes for a truly great NFL team is not an identity of one thing that they’re good at, but actually the ability to be good or great at so many different things, to have so many different ways of being capable of winning, that no opponent can possibly game plan for all of them in any given week. That’s the best way I can describe the recent dynasty of the New England Patriots, for example.

In the midst of the Steelers’ four-game winning streak, they certainly have found some things they’re good at, and they also have legitimately established an identity. 

For this team, in this situation, that’s a very good thing. 

Because the Steelers’ identity is not about a player they can lean on, or a particular set of Xs and Os, or even one dominant unit that lets everything else work. The identity they’ve established over the last few weeks is less technical and more emotional.

They’re bullies.

Jared Verse found that out the hard way, as he talked trash about the Steelers all week, got dropped on his head by Mason McCormick, was stonewalled from even getting near Aaron Rodgers by Troy Fautanu, and could do nothing but helplessly watch as the Pittsburgh ground game eviscerated the rest of the Cleveland defense.

On the other side of the ball, it was the same thing. Quinshon Judkins was the latest starting running back to have his season average halved by Cam Heyward and company, and the Steelers’ collection of edge rushers and other blitzers spent all day harassing Deshaun Watson.

It’s not one thing. It’s not one way of doing things. It’s a mindset and a mentality, backed up by physical prowess, that is flowing through 53 players. 

When you see the likes of free safety Jaquan Brisker drilling the quarterback on the first third down of the game, practice squad call-up wide receiver Brandon Smith throwing blocks downfield for Jaylen Warren, that isn’t just those players being physically dominant — they aren’t. That’s the impact of an entire group that talks the talk and walks the walk.

Perhaps the best and most surprising part of this being the Steelers’ identity is that, at least on offense, it wasn’t really the intention.

All offseason, the Steelers did almost all of their work as an offense in 11 personnel — with three wide receivers on the field. A good amount of it was out of the shotgun. If you look at the identity of most of Mike McCarthy’s best offenses over the course of his time as head coach, there aren’t a lot of power-running teams.

McCarthy’s schematic tendencies are the opposite. The same goes for the preference of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

What the Steelers have done this year is create an identity that isn’t part of the m.o. of either the team’s very experienced head coach or very experienced quarterback. It’s happened organically, without anyone pushing the team in that direction — and likely the opposite.

“I think the Cincinnati game kind of turned the page for us,” right guard Brock Hoffman said. “I think we realized that we played a really good rushing defense and we ran the ball really well on them. Throughout these last couple of weeks, we’ve started to really gel and really hit our stride and kind of find our identity. That’s the big thing. We have an identity in the run game.”

They might even have more room to grow in that regard. The Steelers’ win over the Browns was the first time this season they ran the ball more than 50% of the time, but that number has been steadily rising over the course of the season.

That game against Cincinnati? The Steelers ran the ball 39% of the time. Two weeks later, they crossed 40% against the Indianapolis Colts. Against the Browns, it was 55.9%.

And running more has not resulted in a less effective ground game. In fact, the opposite. The team’s four most run-heavy games — against the Browns on Sunday, New Orleans Saints, Colts and Bengals — have also been their four best games running the ball on a yards-per-carry basis.

There’s some correlation there — a good play-caller is going to run more when they’re having success — but I think it shows that the Steelers becoming a more run-heavy team has not been a detriment to their overall offense.

Right now, with Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson on the shelf and DK Metcalf struggling with his consistency, it’s not as if McCarthy has had much of a choice. The Steelers are leaning on the only part of their offense that has been working.

But McCarthy deserves a lot of credit for pivoting from what he knows to what has been working, and there ought to be some level of faith that the Steelers can put together a passing offense if the proper pieces of the puzzle get back into place.

Then, the Steelers would not only have an indentity, but the kind of schematic flexibility that makes teams very hard to play against in January.