PITTSBURGH — The Steelers enjoyed their bye week after finishing the first half of the season with a victory against the Giants, but when Teryl Austin's defense reports back to work to begin preparations for the Commanders, they'll be focused on bouncing back from their worst outing of the season.

Though Pittsburgh remains one of the NFL's best statistical defenses, it still gave up 394 total yards and a season-high 157 yards rushing to the Giants in Week 8.

"You're able to win in spite of sometimes," Austin said. "I'm really confident in our group to come back and work our tail off to be better when we line up and play next Sunday."

He better be.

The Commanders have one of the league's best offenses with rookie Jayden Daniels at quarterback. They are third in the NFL in scoring (29.5 points per game), third in total offense (396 yards per game) and third in rushing (166 ypg).

The Giants, ranked 26th in total offense, had their way with the Steelers' defense until T.J. Watt and Beanie Bishop came up with turnovers on the final two drives to save the game.

"They know how much better we can be," Austin said. "We're all disappointed. To a man, we weren't happy with how we played on Monday, but our guys figured out a way to get the result we needed. The last drives we got turnovers and ended the game. In terms of totality, I don't think there is anyone in that room who was satisfied. That's a good thing because the minute you're satisfied, you're going to get stagnant and not improve. Our guys are looking to improve."

The 'Monday Night Football' performance against the Giants was uncharacteristic of how the defense had played all season. Even after giving up those 157 rushing yards to the Giants, the Steelers are still a top-five rushing defense, yielding just 90.5 yards per game on the ground.

"It was a little bit of everything," Austin said. "There are some calls I want back. There were some plays we didn't execute. That's usually what happens when things don't go the way you want. Like Mike [Tomlin] says, it was popcorn, something here and something there. All of a sudden, it adds up.

"You have a good young running back. He hit the hole and made a nice play. He has good speed. There's a 45-yard touchdown run. There was a 13-yard run. It's not one thing. It's all of us. We just have to get tighter in terms of what we're doing."

Brian Robinson Jr. leads the Commanders with 461 yards rushing and six touchdowns, but Daniels is close behind with 424 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Only Baltimore's Lamar Jackson has more rushing yards among quarterbacks.

The next step for Justin Fields

Daniels is also the heavy favorite for the NFL's Rookie of the Year award and has even garnered some consideration for MVP. It's interesting then to compare his first half of the season to the numbers Justin Fields posted in his six games as the Steelers' starter.

Overall, they are very similar. Daniels averages 53 rushing yards per game, while Fields averages 38.5. Fields, however, ran for five touchdowns in his first six starts, while Daniels had four in his first eight starts.

As a passer, Daniels averages 217 yards per game, while Fields averages 184. But perhaps where they are most similar is in their ability to limit mistakes. Daniels only threw two interceptions in his first eight starts, while Fields had just one interception in his six starts.

Fields has settled in as Russell Wilson's backup for now, though the Steelers could introduce some packages for him in the second half of the season.

"I've learned so much about Justin and his toughness and his resiliency throughout this process," Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth said. "Just seeing him respond to that initial news of not being the starter and then being popped right back into that role and how he handled that. He's such a good person and humble person to be able to take that news and own it and look at 'what can I do better?'

"If you look at how he played. He had 10 touchdowns against one turnover. That's as good of football as anyone in the NFL was playing in that stretch. It says a lot about Justin and the person he is, what's inside him, what he's made of for him to respond the way he did and for him to be so supportive of the decision and so bought into our team regardless of his role. That doesn't mean he wasn't disappointed or motivated by that, but he's handled it as well as anyone could have."

Tomlin inserted Wilson as his starter once he was healthy because Wilson is the more accomplished passer. When Fields was the starter, the offense had a conservative feel to it as he chose to execute shorter passes rather than longer ones.

If and when Fields gets another opportunity to run the offense, one of the challenges he'll face is knowing when to push the ball down the field in the passing game.

"That's part of the conflict that quarterbacks always have," Arth said. "Tom Moore used to say play smart, not scared. That really encapsulates what being a quarterback is — being able to be aggressive and not put your team at risk, to understand the pace of the game and what type of game it is. 'Is this a moment where I need to be aggressive? Do I need to take a chance or a calculated risk? Or is this one where I have to be smart and check it down and let the defense go back out there and get a stop?'

"That's a challenge for every quarterback. It's what separates the good from the great — their ability to recognize those moments and to execute in the right way when [opportunities are] presented."

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