Jordan Berry and Chris Boswell. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

Steelers

Kovacevic: The Steelers' fourth Killer B? Might not be who you think

By Dejan Kovacevic

Jan 11, 2018 • 12:00 am

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Much of the discussion in the Steelers' locker room Wednesday was about their Killer Bs, with Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell taking their weekly turns with the media, and Antonio Brown again looking hale and healthy in practice at the Rooney Sports Complex.

Here's guessing they were talking a ton about this generational trio down in Jacksonville, too.

And yet, the Jaguars might not have been talking about the one Killer B most likely to beat them should Sunday's AFC Divisional Playoff go down to the final few ticks.

Chris Boswell?

Well, he has been dubbed an honorary Killer B by all three of the actual club, and it's been hard-earned: He was the NFL's sixth-most accurate kicker in the regular season -- 35 of 38 for 92.1 percent -- including 4 of 4 from 50-plus yards, 9 of 10 from 40-plus. And that doesn't scrape the surface, when weighing his four final-minute winning field goals in a five-game span, a first in league history.

But no, not him. Try another B.

"Jordan Berry," Boswell was telling me Wednesday, pointing toward the nearby stall of the resident punter/holder. "He does everything."

Upon hearing this, I nodded politely. Kickers always say such stuff. They describe field goals as being kicked by "we" and "us," always deflecting credit to the holder and long-snapper. And that's logical. Those three pretty much perform on their own island, even in practice. They're always together, yet always separate, always focused on the singular task of getting the ball from Kameron Canaday's hands to Berry's index finger to Boswell's shoe to anywhere at all between those golden posts.

"We're a team," Boswell amended, "all three of us."

Right. But this team, as I'd find out upon pressing a bit, comes with one whale of an unusual quirk. Because when I asked Boswell how he prefers the ball to be aligned for his kicks -- and people in his profession are notoriously particular about every detail -- he playfully shrugged.

"Honestly, that's not my call."

Uh, what?

"That's all Jordan. He decides that."

He does?

"Oh, yeah. Always. I never say a word to him about that. He'll get a feel for the conditions, the wind, the surface, and he'll read how the ball is coming off my foot in warmups and even through the game. So he'll decide whether he wants to put a little spin on it, whether the laces are facing in or out, how to tilt it ... everything."

With no input?

"He does his job. I do mine. He knows how to get the ball to go where he wants it to go."

I've been doing this job a long time. Rarely am I floored by inside-the-game information from a professional athlete. But I'd interviewed countless kickers at all levels of football, including the National FOOT-ball League itself, and I've never heard one come close to ceding any control of the process, much less like this.

"Those guys, the other two in this process, are the reason I can make three points," Boswell would add, referring again to Canaday and Berry. "I mean, of course, we have the line that's done a phenomenal job of blocking for me all year, keeping the pressure out of my face. But the work that those two do ... their timing, their rhythm, making sure everything's the same for me ... it kind of takes out the thinking part of the game for me. I don't have to wonder or worry about anything."

• If Stephon Tuitt and/or Artie Burns can't play -- and both were partial participants in practice Wednesday because of new injuries -- that's not ideal, but neither is it devastating. Tyson Alualu, who'd start for Tuitt, has performed miles above the backup level, with four sacks and 39 tackles in just 434 snaps, or 44 percent of the team total. Cam Sutton, who'd start for Burns, is a rookie whose hamstring injury made him unavailable to play in the season's first half, which isn't ideal, but Mike Tomlin loves the kid, and he's yet to look out of place.

• Anyone else having a desperately difficult time conjuring up any hard discussion points related to this game?

I'm getting that sense from a lot of fans around the city the past couple days, just from casual conversation. Where it kind of goes like this:

So, you like the Steelers' chances?

Yeah.

And uh ...

How about against the Patriots?

Oh, man, that's going to be awesome!

• The general consensus in the room is that Leonard Fournette can be contained, in large part because he isn't a threat through the air: Seal the edges, fill the middle, spy Blake Bortles as needed, and bring on the punt unit.

See, I'm trying. It isn't easy.

• There's nothing wrong with omitting Phil Kessel from the NHL All-Star roster. At least not within the inane context in which the league has defined the selection process.

Since the teams for the three-on-three tournament are chosen to represent their respective divisions, and since each team's got to have at least one representative, it's virtually impossible to have more than two guys from any team. Sidney Crosby has to be there, plain and simple. He's the star of stars. Kris Letang was picked because, one, there are only 12 total defensemen in the event and, two, he can handle three-on-three. And the only other player who could have been bumped, I think, was Josh Bailey of the Islanders and ... eh, OK, bump Bailey for Kessel.

But the real issue here is that there's a real honor in being an All-Star selection while there's zero relevance to the game itself. And as the league's finding out, that's not an easy gap to bridge.

• My solution: Pick the rosters by conference, then divide up the little three-on-three teams as needed from there, naming them after Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe and so forth. Do whatever it takes to get the best players there, then have the requisite fun.

• What's hilarious is that Kessel's probably been the league's premier performer in real three-on-three competition.

Ask the Oilers ...

And the Jets ...

And just the other night, the Bruins ...

• Poor Phil will have to settle for a few blessed days away from the rink and the additional chance it affords for him to rest and recover for the remainder of what might be his finest NHL season. You'd better believe that would be Sid's preference.

• So wait a second ... the two teams most interested in Gerrit Cole have been the Yankees and Astros?

Two of the three teams, along with the Reds, with Major League Baseball's most home-run-friendly parks?

Hm. Supposing that neither the Yankees nor the Astros are run by idiots, it should be safe to assume that they don't fear Cole's gopher-ball problem carrying over into their respective parks. And from there, it should be safe to assume that, unlike the Pirates, who impose their pitch-to-contact emphasis from above, they think they could do right by a guy with a 100-mph arm by simply cutting him loose.

You know, like World Series champion flame-thrower Charlie Morton.

• A few of us lingered well after the Steelers' practice was done to watch Ryan Shazier very visibly enjoy his visit with his teammates. Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert and many others took turns speaking with him, sharing stories and smiles.

And yeah, Shazier was smiling, too. Looked thrilled to be there. And that made everything else that happened over the course of the full day seem so terribly insignificant by comparison.

Wishing the best for that young man. Wishing hard.

WHAT'S BREWING

• Much, much Steelers-Jaguars coverage this morning. It's flowing in quantity and quality, and not just from our football guys. Matt Gajtka looks at Jacksonville's shot at an upset in Matt's Stats, sponsored by Schneider Downs.

• On that note, if you missed it, I can't recommend strongly enough our Midweek Reader on the Steelers telling us, in their own words, what it would be like to be a champion.

• Pitt got squashed by No. 7 Duke at the Pete, and Chris Mueller and Matt Sunday double-teamed it.

• Lance Lysowski wrapped up his weeklong coverage from Bradenton of Pirates minicamp with much good stuff.

• As with every Wednesday, I visited the 105.9 the X studios to talk sports with Mark Madden, and that was festive:

• Do you follow us on social media? If not, we're available on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. We'll make it worth your while, as we've got some fun initiatives planned on those fronts toward signing up new subscribers.

VIDEO

Matt and I had Java duty: