It wasn’t easy or particularly nice. But it was revealing, and while some of what was revealed will inspire confidence, there will be some that will raise doubts. The significance of some or all of these is left to each individual, but since the NFL is a bottom-line business and the result of Sunday’s practice at Acrisure Stadium was 27 points in Pittsburgh and 14 points in Cleveland, it deserves recognition for that, what happened is considered an achievement.

Now on to the next one.

But before that can happen, the drama titled “Steelers vs. Browns, the rematch” will be dissected, rehashed and asked to death. And how you ultimately feel about these Steelers and what their 10-3 record says about them and their immediate future probably won’t have changed from how you thought about these things when they were 9-3.

Yes, professional football as played at the NFL level is a business, and coach Mike Tomlin tells everyone who works for him that “our business is successful.” Still, you have to admit that their purpose is entertainment, and that entertainment often comes from adding style points and aesthetics to things that are really only defined by cold, hard numbers. There is no “committee” that takes everything in and then votes on which teams have “earned” the chance to compete for the big trophy. It is played in stadiums with scoreboards that determine who advances. This is the NFL, after all.

The Steelers woke up today with a record of 10-3, winning 7 of their last 8 games and are 6-1 with Russell Wilson as their starting quarterback. But now it’s becoming reality. The next three weeks will feature three games over an 11-day period – starting Sunday, December 15 and ending Wednesday, December 25 – against three opponents who woke up today with a combined score of 30-18 and twelve of them as Winners emerged last 15.

Looking at it through the half-full lens, the Steelers are getting top-notch quarterback play from Wilson, who has shown he’s a guy who does big things in critical moments that will impact games. Against the Browns, the first possession of the second half featured a third-and-10 with a 21-yard shot to Pat Freiermuth up the middle and then a second-and-6 from the 10-yard line The Browns converted He ran a read-option type play that required him to make three decisions: give the ball to a running back, keep it and run around the end, or press the corner and make a quick pass to a slant after rear-facing receiver. Wilson made the read, executed the fakes and accurately passed to Van Jefferson for a 10-yard touchdown.

The next possession saw back-to-back plays in which he converted a third-and-6 with a 20-yard strike down the sideline to Mike Williams and then completed a touchdown pass in which he moved the safety with his eyes brought the ball over the seam to Freiermuth.

Of course, those touchdowns on consecutive possessions early in the second half were necessary to erase the bitter taste of making three-pointers on four of the first five possessions of the first half. And of course, some of the problems the offense had in the first half could be attributed to George Pickens appearing on Friday’s practice report as a limited participant with a hamstring injury and then being inactive for Sunday’s game. Obviously, a lineup without Pickens was far less threatening to the Browns’ secondary, and it took a while for the Steelers to find an effective workaround.

While all of this was happening, the Steelers defense did enough good. The Browns made five punts, Keeanu Benton and James Pierre had interceptions and Cam Heyward had two sacks. When there were problems, they often came from QB Jameis Winston being able to duck outside to avoid the pass rush and then make a play down the field. A loss like that to Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia next Sunday, or to Lamar Jackson in Baltimore the following Saturday, or to Patrick Mahomes on Christmas Day, the Wednesday after, and 24 points won’t be nearly enough.

What they are is resilient, and Tomlin is constantly working to cultivate a “why not me” philosophy among players when it comes to making game-changing plays. There were the aforementioned interceptions by a second-year nose tackle and a core special teamer who saw time at cornerback due to an injury to Donte Jackson. Additionally, Corliss Waitman turned the field over a few times and Ben Skowronek sealed the deal by jumping on the loose ball when one of his punts was thwarted.

“I want to take the mystique out of our performance,” Tomlin said. “We decide how we play. We determine the outcome of football games. I built this team this way and as a result I am not consistent in my words or actions if I approach games differently.”

They will need this approach to bear fruit as their next three games vary in difficulty and have little recovery time from one game to the next. Three games in 11 days, starting December 15th and ending December 25th, against three of the league’s best teams, all with rosters that feature some of the NFL’s most dynamic players.

These three games – in Philadelphia against the Eagles 11-2, in Baltimore against the “win-loss record doesn’t matter” Ravens and in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day against the two-time defending champion Chiefs – against this level because of the strong competition at this point on schedule, they fought through all the work to get here. Three All-Pro quarterbacks. Three elite organizations. To win the championship, the Steelers will need to compete at this level, and the Steelers will find out if they are up to the challenge.

It won’t be easy because they won’t get the kind of help they got from the Browns. And it doesn’t have to be pretty, because the only thing that matters is winning that particular game by any means possible. But it will be enlightening.

The Steelers will enter the field with a team – especially with Pickens back from his hamstring problem – that is better equipped and prepared than any team in recent memory. They have done everything necessary to position themselves as one of the most relevant teams in the league in mid-December.

It’s all there for you. And the best part is that it’s up to them.