Wins don't come easy: In the National Football League, wins don't come easy.
So, you will never hear a player complaining following a win.
Nor should you.
And that was the case on Monday following the Steelers 34-32 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
"We know we could play better, but we came out with a win," said safety Juan Thornhill. "It's hard to get those wins in this league."
It took all three phases to pull out the win, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers throwing four touchdown passes and Chris Boswell nailing a 60-yard field goal.y
The defense, while they admit they 'could play better,' they still came up with big plays, including Jalen Ramsey breaking up Justin Fields' pass to Garrett Wilson on the Jets final play of the game.
Despite that, Thornhill stressed the importance of getting back to work. The defense allowed 182 yards rushing, while Fields threw for 218 yards.
"We were getting gashed in the running game and that was very obvious," said Thornhill. "I just feel like that's something that we have to work on.
"It will be something that we'll emphasize this week, but I'm not really panicked at all. I don't think no one on the defensive side is panicking one bit. People outside the building might be a little worried because I know we threw some stuff out there early in in camp talking about how this defense can be one of the best, but it still can.
"It's week one. We just finished the first game, and that was technically our second time playing with each other all together.
"I'm excited. It's going to be fun, and I think we're going to make a lot of plays."
Thornhill said the back end needs to do everything they can to help eliminate big plays in the ground game, with the Jets having three players with rushes of 15 plus yards on Sunday.
"It's reading our keys, getting to the ball a lot faster," said Thornhill. "You can't always rely on those guys up front to make every single play. So, if they don't make it, we've got to be there to eliminate those explosive runs. Instead of them getting 10 to 15 yards, maybe keep it down to five to eight yards and things like that.
"So, just reading our key and being more disciplined."
The secondary did suffer a few blows against the Jets when DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury and Joey Porter Jr. a hamstring injury.
Versatility played a key role, as Thornhill moved into Elliott's spot and more shifting ensued.
"I felt like the safety part of it sucked because we lost DeShon early in that game," said Thornhill. "It was fun for me because I'm used to being that deep safety in this defense. And then when DeShon went down, I get to get closer to that line of scrimmage and make a lot more plays down there. I even told him, it's a little different, but I actually enjoyed it. It was fun being down there. The energy was electric.
"I think it was very professional. I don't feel like anybody panicked. Chuck (Clark) came in. Well, it started with me and Jalen back at safety at first. And then I think Joey went down and that put Jalen in a corner and then Chuck (Clark) came into game. I just felt like everything was professional. Nobody panicked, everybody came in and did their role play very well."