Not much has gone right for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, but they are in the middle of their best stretch of football of the season. Their latest outing, a tough 19-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons, was their third win in the last four games, and has pushed their record to 5-7 on the season.

This win likely won't propel the Steelers on a playoff run, but it is good to see the team make some progress after a miserable start to the season. The Falcons needed to win this game to stay competitive in the NFC South, and will be hoping that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. But for Pittsburgh, this was a great win, so let's hand out some grades for them and see who had a big impact on this win.

Passing offense

Kenny Pickett is going through the struggles that a rookie typically goes through, but he's done a much better job in recent weeks cutting down his turnovers. This was the fourth straight game in which Pickett didn't turn the ball over, which says a lot considering he committed nine turnovers in his first five games.

Pickett wasn't spectacular (16/28, 197 YDS, 1 TD) but he did enough to keep the Steelers offense moving for much of the day. Pat Freiermuth (3 REC, 76 YDS) and Diontae Johnson (5 REC, 60 YDS) were his favorite targets, but Pickett's lone touchdown of the day ended up going to Connor Heyward for just his eighth catch of the year. It wasn't anything to write home about, but Pickett got the job done against Atlanta.

Grade: B

Rushing offense

The Steelers ground game is finally coming to life after a rough start to the season, and this has been due largely to the reemergence of Najee Harris. Harris has been in a groove lately, and he had another solid outing against the Falcons in this one (17 CAR, 86 YDS). This was the fourth time in the past five games in which Harris has averaged at least four yards per carry, which shows the ground game is finally waking up after a slow start to the season.

Nobody else behind Harris was particularly impressive, and the rushing attack as a whole finished the day with 154 yards on 37 carries. Again, it's not exactly a superb outing, but when the ball was handed off, the runners, particularly Harris, got the job done. Harris will look to keep things going in Week 14, but it would be nice to see him get a bit more help from other guys who are getting carries.

Grade: B

Passing defense

The Falcons don't really have a vaunted passing attack, but they always seem to find a way to stay close in games. That was the case in this one again, but the Steelers secondary did a good job of keeping Marcus Mariota quiet in the air for most of the day. Mariota was OK (13/24, 167 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT) but he wasn't able to win Atlanta the game.

Drake London had a pretty big day as a receiver (6 REC, 95 YDS) and MyCole Pruitt turned his only catch into a seven-yard touchdown, but other than that, nobody did much for the Falcons passing attack in this game. Minkah Fitzpatrick also sealed the game with an interception of Mariota on their final drive, and Cameron Heyward picked up the only sack of the game. Overall, it was a solid outing from this unit.

Grade: A-

Rushing defense

Atlanta makes their money on offense with their ground game, but the Steelers got ahead early in this game and forced the Falcons to play catch up, limiting the impact of their rushing attack. They still had a good day overall (28 CAR, 146 YDS) but considering the monster outings they have had in prior games, this was a good day of work from Pittsburgh.

Cordarrelle Patterson (11 CAR, 60 YDS) and Tyler Allgeier (10 CAR, 52 YDS) both led the way and were efficient when they got the ball, but it simply wasn't enough for the Falcons to win this game. The Steelers didn't shut down the run entirely, but they didn't have to because of the game script. And you can't really take anything away from them because of that, so they get another good mark here.

Grade: B

Special teams

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Special teams played a huge role in this game on both sides because nobody could find a way to get into the end zone. Matthew Wright probably won this game for Pittsburgh, as he hit all four of his field goals and his lone extra point too. Pressley Harvin III only punted twice, but he managed to land one inside the 20-yard line. Steven Sims had a rough day on punt returns, as he muffed his first punt before recovering it, but it doesn't take away from the final grade here.

Grade: A-

Coaching

Mike Tomlin knew this game was going to be a grind, and he had a strong gameplan to help his team win this game. He got the lead early, kept the ball away from the Falcons offense, and forced Mariota to try to win this game on his own. Mariota couldn't figure out Pittsburgh's defense, and in the end, it was a great day of work from Tomlin.

Grade: A-

Overall Steelers Grade: B+

The Steelers aren't going to strike fear in their opponents after this win, but they knew what they had to do to beat the Falcons and they did it. They still have an outside shot at clinching a playoff spot, and winning this game was crucial in keeping those hopes alive. The Steelers are winning ugly, but wins are wins, and the organization has to be pleased with this result.