Kovacevic: All about Ben, AB reconnecting

All the rest, if we're being honest, is wonderful window dressing.

James Conner's bulldozer, B-button running toward those Le'Veon-like 185 total yards. JuJu Smith-Schuster rocketing upward for that early touchdown. Rosie Nix stretching every sinew to block that punt. And that defense ... that push up front from Cam Heyward, L.J. Fort setting a new standard in Vince Williams' absence, Joe Haden eating Julio Jones' lunch, all part of an overdue overall performance that prompted Stephon Tuitt to emotionally tell me afterward, "That's Pittsburgh Steelers football. That's the Steelers. That's how we play. Write it down, my man. Write it down."

Just did, big guy.

But with all due respect, defense isn't the Steelers' brand anymore, not even after those guys doubled down on the Falcons, 41-17, on this summery Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.

It isn't their brand anymore for the broader reason that it can't be anyone's brand anymore in the NFL.

This, right here, on this single, simple passing route, executed eloquently on the opening drive of the second half, not only is the Steelers' brand. It's the Steelers' everything:

Beautiful, right?

Oh, just wait. There's plenty more on the way.

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Roethlisberger and Randy Fichtner had gotten together during halftime, as always, and did some standard scripting for their upcoming possession. It had helped immensely, Ben told me afterward, that Conner and the offensive line had spent the first half clocking Atlanta's overmatched front seven and that, in turn, the Falcons occasionally were leaving AB in single coverage.

"That's where it all starts," Ben told me. "James and the big boys were softening everything up, so there were times I knew AB would be out there."

And in the case above, he added, "They had a linebacker coming over."

Ouch.

But they did. No. 59 up there is De'Vondre Campbell. And it's a corner, No. 23, Robert Alford, tailing AB off the line. Fichtner had impressed upon Ben to read where Atlanta was lining up its safeties. So when he saw Campbell about a mile off the line of scrimmage, he had a pretty good idea it would be Campbell "coming over" to help Alford.

Which left the twofold challenge as this: Run a route no one can catch, and throw a pass no one can touch.

You know, like they both have forever, and like they did on this play for 15 yards, a first down and a dual burst of confidence that might well have ... what, saved the season?

Both clearly were buoyed by it.

"We got some things rolling," AB would say. "Going into the second half like that, it was great."

"It's a great call by Randy, and it's a play we love, no question," Ben would tell me with a small smile. "It felt good. I'm not going to lie, that felt good."

Here's betting there was a reason.

Our site tracked Roethlisberger's accuracy, beyond a cold count of completions, to assess misfires when he threw a ball we felt wasn't catchable. Since that, of course, has been very much at the root of the disconnect between not just Ben and AB but Ben and everyone. In the first half, Ben was 9 of 17 for 95 yards and, amazingly, all eight incompletions were misfires.

More amazingly, five of those misfires were intended for AB:

Remember AB's priceless remark this past Friday?

"It's like Wi-Fi, you know," he told reporters at the Rooney Complex. "Sometimes the connection is poor. Sometimes the connection is great. But it's always connected."

Well, they might as well have been tying papyrus to pigeons in the first half.

I could really rub it in and share video here of Ben's abominable decision to fling a ball to AB under duress on a late drive, one that resulted in an interception, but I'll instead let this pair of Matt Sunday photos tell the story:

Funny thing, though: After that 15-yarder described above, the Steelers would storm right down the field 78 yards and finish it with another Ben/AB trademark ...

... a 9-yard curl route that's as close as these two have to their Unstoppable Play, to borrow from the old Bill Cowher/Kordell Stewart parlance.

And man, if the initial pass provided a spark, this was something else entirely. Ben pumped both fists, flung off his chin strap, celebrated alone for a moment, then leaped into the big-bear arms of Marcus Gilbert:

Relieved?

"It wasn't about connective with AB and him scoring," Ben would elaborate. "It was just more about me being frustrated with the way I was playing and kind of getting the confidence from making that play. Because it wasn't an easy route and it wasn't an easy throw. So it was more about that than who caught it."

Except, of course, that the guy who caught it happens to be fairly proficient at running that type of route. Just as the guy who threw it comes with his own credentials, to put it mildly.

So on the next drive, with the Wi-Fi suddenly firing at mega-gigabytes, it was time to bust loose:

That's 47 yards. That's fantastic. And yeah, that's Alford at corner again, this time with real help from a real safety, and none of it mattered. Not to the participants. Not to a solitary soul among the 64,781 in attendance, all of whom, I'll bet, knew the outcome the moment the ball left Ben's fingertips.

Also worth a freeze in time:

"We're always on the same page," AB would say of that play. "We're always positive. Never listen to what the media says. We know we've got to stay together regardless of what's being said. All of my catches, all of my touchdowns, are from him. That's my guy. I live and die with him."

He then grinned.

"And the Wi-Fi was lit."

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Never mind the drama, for once. The data adds up with or without: Ben wound up 19 of 29 for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Incompletions in the second half: Two. Outright misfires: Zero. And AB wound up with six catches for 101 yards and the two touchdowns, topping 100 yards for the first time on the season and passing John Stallworth on the franchise touchdown list with his 64th. Only Hines Ward has more.

They're special.

They're also strange, each in his own way. Ben basically is the loner, somehow even when within a group, always off to the perimeter. AB is ... I'm not even sure how to portray him anymore. Suffice it to say they're different dudes.

But they've also always had this mutual respect and understanding that one isn't complete without the other. And through that, whether one wants to call it Wi-Fi or whatever, they've built a very real bond on the field.

See that spectacular Sunday photo atop this column?

Yeah, that. It happened on the sideline right after the 47-yarder. Neither player would really discuss it. But really, what's to say about what appears to be a mutual primal scream of some sort?

Bottom line: Nothing, nothing, nothing related to these Steelers for the foreseeable future matters more.

"It takes 53 guys to win in the NFL, and this was one of those awesome games where we did great in all three facets," David DeCastro was telling me. "But at the end of the day, we're about Ben and AB. We all know that. So when we're out there, making other plays, doing everything we can ... and then those two start making plays the way we all know they can ... that's game over."

Or game just underway.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY