Kovacevic: How can Steelers improve upon K.C. rout? Wow, easily

Oct 4, 2016 • 12:01 am

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Brief and to the Point ...

"The thing is," David DeCastro was telling me late Sunday night at Heinz Field, "we can do even better."

Yeah, agreed. That is the thing.

Because if we put 24 hours and a few deep breaths between the Steelers' 43-14 faceplanting of the Chiefs, it's fairly easy to see that, even with all that went so wonderfully well, there were a few areas where an upgrade is not only pivotal but also plenty realistic.

To casually count up just a handful:

1. Blocking for Le'Veon Bell.

This was DeCastro's primary focus. Any of the offensive linemen will attest that setting up and finishing a block is far different in front of Bell, given his Eddie George-style patience and hesitation, than for one-cut-then-boom DeAngelo Williams. They'll also tell you that the latter is a lot easier. There's less thinking, more mauling.

That likely explains why 105 of Bell's 144 rushing yards in his return came in the second half. The holes just weren't there and, when they were, they didn't stay holes long enough for him to make his preferred reads.

"We'll get there," DeCastro said.

They might already have, but a better test surely lies ahead than pounding away late in the game against an already pummeled opponent.

2. Get healthier.

If it's uncool to cite injuries when losing, then how can Mike Tomlin get away with doing so when winning big?

"We had enough adversity this week," he said in his opening statement Sunday night, "bouncing back from our previous performance and dealing with some injury circumstances."

Hey, so the standard is really the double standard?

I'm kidding, of course, but it's genuinely worth mentioning -- and appreciating -- that the Steelers were without seven players, including five starters. And then they lost two more in Marcus Gilbert and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Once some of those return, notably Ryan Shazier, there will be more depth at more positions, with more flexibility for more schemes than previously. Or, to put that another way, Vince Williams ringing up 15 tackles against Kansas City -- 13 solos! -- isn't about to be sent back to the sideline for any long stretch. The inside linebackers as a whole, especially 30-year-old Lawrence Timmons, will be that much sharper for it.

3. Alejandro Villanueva can improve?

Yeah, that merits a question mark at this point. Because his getting scorched for a sack, then later whiffing on what should have been a huge reverse for Sammie Coates, that's been going on since the preseason.

We've seen enough from Villanueva to know he's smart enough, big enough and athletic enough despite maybe not having the quickest feet at left tackle. But his rawness in technique still shows up too often for comfort.

He needs to get better, and he will. Never bet against this guy.

4. That Justin Gilbert gimmick.

Mock the Steelers for their ultra-reactionary ways -- they're seen as welcoming change in the same way vampires welcome crosses -- but Tomlin, Keith Butler and Carnell Lake concocted a pretty neat idea in having Justin Gilbert come off the sideline to cover Kansas City's superb tight end, Travis Kelce.

Think about it. For one, Gilbert's quick enough to keep up with anyone, thus negating Kelce's 5-inch, 65-pound size advantage so long as he sticks to the route. For another, Gilbert's still learning the Steelers' schemes, but no scheme could be simpler than to point to one uniform and say 'Follow that guy!' For yet another, Gilbert's assignment freed up the linebackers to just be linebackers.

No, the matchup didn't come into play much, but Kelce wound up with five catches for 23 yards, and it's possible that it was just enough to throw off the Chiefs early on.

Nice weapon to have for the future.

5. Sammie, Sammie, Sammie.

What if it turns out that Sammie's good enough to reasonably replace Martavis Bryant?

The mind boggles.

• The Jets are terrible. The Dolphins might be worse. The Steelers can't and shouldn't say stuff like this, but nothing's stopping me: There's no legitimate cause for this team to be anything other than 5-1 heading into New England week. And that ought to be some serious fun.

• There is no more interesting summation of the coming week's opponent than Tomlin's opening few minutes of his press conference. I absolutely love these. His detail, his terminology, his background and insight on the various players is unlike any analysis you'll hear in football. Give it a try today. It's worth it.

• I don't care about Antonio Brown's shoes any more than I do about his twerking:

If they fuel him in any way to be the NFL's premier wide receiver, I'll take the fines and the 15 yards and laugh it all off.

Just not in the playoffs, OK?

• I predicted 12-4 for the Steelers before the season, so I tried after Sunday to find three more losses on this schedule the rest of the way:

steelers2016_10-3

Hello? Anyone? Baltimore?

• The Pirates' management, not content to depart the season as meekly as the team did with that sweep in St. Louis, decided to make it known they put Starling Marte on the 15-day disabled list for the final weekend.

Wait, the DL in September?

Yeah, right. There is no DL in September. Unless, of course, the general manager is trying to send a message of dissatisfaction with a particular player, which was absolutely the case here.

"Paperwork move," Huntington explained to reporters Sunday. "We felt it was useful for a variety of reasons to note that he went on the DL."

I reported earlier in the month that the Pirates' front office and coaches were angry with Marte for what they felt was an unwillingness to play through recurring back spasms. He tried in a game I covered in Milwaukee and wrenched it again during an awful-looking at-bat. When I tried to discuss it with him both before and after the game, he was unusually distant.

I won't take issue with the Pirates' disappointment with Marte. Not at all. They and their athletic trainers know very well who's really hurt and who isn't.

I will take issue, though, with taking the tiptoe route. Say what you mean. Rip the kid. Take action that'll be meaningful to more than the handful of fans still paying attention to an eliminated team in the season's final weekend.

"Paperwork move?"

Good Lord.

And people wonder why this group never makes bold moves.

• On the brighter side, nothing that happened in September will have meant more to the Pirates' immediate future than Tyler Glasnow bouncing back as he did Saturday in St. Louis with five innings of one-hit ball, a more compact delivery courtesy of Ray Searage and honest-to-gosh fastball command:

He's got the stuff. He just needs to harness it.

• He can't be team MVP, but the top performer in a Pirates uniform this season was Mark Melancon. And it isn't even close.

• A few additional bits of research I did on the Pirates' 2016 finish: Their 758 runs allowed were their most since the infamous 105-loss team of Huntington and John Russell in 2010, a performance that prompted Huntington to fire Russell. The 729 runs scored were more than any of the three playoff teams by a broad margin of 32, yet another sign that it was never about the offense. The season-to-season drop of 20 games in the standings was tied for the seventh-worst drop in franchise history, the worst since 1993-94 amid the continuing fallout of Barry Bonds' exit. They used a franchise-record 55 players or, as one of those players described it to me in Milwaukee, "more than a freaking football team."

• On Aug. 28, the Pirates were 67-61 and a half-game out of the wild-card spot. If they'd finished seven games over .500 -- meaning, obviously, doing nothing more than playing a game better than .500 ball the rest of the way -- they'd have wound up with the same record as the Giants, and they'd still be playing.

• The "real streak," as Kent Tekulve correctly calls it, is now at 37, that being the drought without a World Series. The longest previous streak for the franchise was 35 years between 1925 and 1960.

• Extensions for everyone!

• If Mike Sullivan splits up the HBK Line, for whatever reason, it'll be the first sure signs he's trying a little too hard to keep the Penguins from complacency.

It's not just that Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel earned the right to stick after being the NHL's best line on any team all through the Stanley Cup playoffs. Rather, at least from this perspective, it's that Bonino and Hagelin uniquely bring out the best in Kessel, and that benefits Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin just as much as having any one of those three to skate alongside. Coaches can't match up with three superstar threats spread on three lines. Opposing players can't focus, either. Space is created all over the ice for all concerned.

Let it be.

• If the run-and-gun Penguins have, indeed, brought about the beginning of the end for physical play in the NHL, that's news to Tom Sestito.

The big man and I had a good talk the other night after he played -- that's played -- a really solid game with the puck in an exhibition win at Consol. And he made clear that, in addition to all sports going in and out of various cycles, the punishing aspect of hockey will always have a place.

"You are seeing more teams that are turning to straight speed," Sestito said, "but I still think there's a place for better balance, and I'm not just saying that because of my game. I think those fast guys, the skilled guys still appreciate having that teammate who'll go in there and bang a body, make a D-man turn it over. My game, I'm trying to make guys think twice, to know I'm coming, and maybe they'll turn the puck over to a guy who scores 30 or 40 a year."

It'll be back. You watch. Not in Pittsburgh, maybe not even in Philadelphia or Columbus, but somewhere.

• Marc-Andre Fleury's head is in such a good place right now. Expecting big things.

• Did Canada win the Ryder Cup yet?

• If Pitt's secondary didn't have enough issues, now the best player, Jordan Whitehead, isn't being allowed to play and, worse, his coach isn't making clear to anyone why that is.

Not that we have a right to specifics. Pat Narduzzi is within his rights to protect his players. But my goodness, in the social-media age, at least some semblance of a clue -- not playing well, off-field trouble, personal, etc. -- goes a really long way toward limiting the rabidity of the rumor mill. Narduzzi's got to know that. And if he doesn't, someone needs to enlighten him.

Tormenting a blue-chip prospect like this is no way to secure future blue-chip prospects.

• It might not be hyperbole to suggest that, if James Franklin doesn't soon solve why Saquon Barkley has only seven runs of 12-plus yards all season, he won't be retained by Penn State in 2017. No one wants to be that coach who can't get the most out of skilled players who have already proven themselves.

• I can't state strongly enough how much I'm in favor of Pitt restoring the Backyard Brawl not just in basketball but also in football, but I'll also support Scott Barnes' stance -- and I sure haven't supported many -- that Penn State should be prioritized ahead of West Virginia on that front.

In the same breath, as much as Jamie Dixon deserved criticism for his light out-of-conference scheduling and resultant low RPIs, one would hope that both Barnes and Kevin Stallings come with enough common sense to never, ever take jabs at Dixon. This is not only a good man and a good coach but also someone who achieved a ton more at Pitt than either of those two gentlemen have anywhere.

And yes, there have been traces of such jabs.

• Try the Tomlin thing today. I'm serious. It's a blast.