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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Mike Tomlin wasn't kidding when he said it would take more than one good performance to cure what's ailing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Maybe, but it certainly beats the alternative: another week with offensive coordinator Matt Canada under siege and Pittsburgh's season spiraling downward.
The coach who loves to point out there's nothing "mystical" about the game he's dedicated his life to might want to reconsider that stance after one of the more trying weeks of his 16-year tenure.
How else to explain a 20-18 victory over Tampa Bay and Tom Brady on Sunday, which ended a four-game losing streak and offered something akin to hope, an element that threatened to disappear following the franchise's worst loss since 1989 the week before at Buffalo?
Yes, that really was Mitch Trubisky throwing for 144 yards and a touchdown in relief of Kenny Pickett, who entered the concussion protocol late in the third quarter after getting knocked to the ground by Tampa Bay's Devin White.
Yes, that really was embattled linebacker Devin Bush breaking up a 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game with 4:38 to go.
Yes, that really was rookie tight end Connor Heyward chugging downfield on a 45-yard catch and run that set up Trubisky's 6-yard dart in the end zone to a suddenly visible Chase Claypool.
Yes, that really was a defense that had generated little pass rush without injured star linebacker T.J Watt sacking Brady twice and repeatedly making him look every bit of 45 years old.