Kovacevic: Doesn't take grandmaster to prognosticate these Steelers

"On to Philadelphia ..."

A couple minutes into his weekly press conference Tuesday, Mike Tomlin turned from injury updates to his trademark recitation of the Steelers' next opponent. This one opened with Tomlin referencing the Eagles' "recent rise to the top of the NFC East," as if being 1-2-1 atop a division that's a combined 3-12-1 was some commendable thing. He then rifled through everything from their defensive front's ability to "pick off pullers," to tight end Zach Ertz's ability to "create major, major issues as a matchup problem," to former Woodland Hills High School running back Miles Sanders' ability to "handle all situations," to the kick coverage's ability to limit net returns "that really has our attention this week."

Oh, there was more, too. These segments get specific enough that Tomlin felt compelled to remind those of us on the call that Javon Hargrave is "a former Pittsburgh Steeler."

Know what scarcely came up?

Carson Wentz. Other than a glancing mention of his "talents." 

Beyond that, nada. And that's undoubtedly because, if there isn't anything nice to say, say nothing at all.

Wentz is coming off a spirited W, to be fair. Despite missing his top four receivers, including DeSean Jackson, he completed 18 of 28 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 37 more yards and another touchdown in somehow slipping by the 49ers, 25-20, Sunday night in Santa Clara, Calif. That moved Doug Pederson, his coach, to call the performance "inspired."

So don't presume for a second Tomlin was slighting Wentz, even if Wentz's first three games weren't of a similar caliber.

No, presume instead that Tomlin wouldn't have wanted to wander where that conversation would continue.

See, one could argue Wentz was lucky to survive Sunday night. Because, infinitely more important than working without his receivers, he also was taking snaps from the Eagles' only remaining starting offensive lineman in center Jason Kelce. 

Everyone else was out.

Everyone.

And the ragtag group in their wake was a collection of rookies, journeymen and, at the most critical position, a 6-foot-8, 346-pound still-under-conversion Australian rugby player, Jordan Mailata, who Pederson playfully labels "a ball of clay that we're still molding into a left tackle."

It's a cool story, and there could be more to come. But all that counts is how it all shook out, and here are all three sacks Wentz took in Santa Clara, beginning with this bull-rush of the lone remaining starter:

 Then this unchecked blitz:

 Then this community collapse:

Although those can't be wholly blamed on the O-line, what isn't pictured above is Wentz's interception, his fumble, the 10 times he was officially hit or, for that matter, San Francisco's six other tackles for a loss. To say nothing of the 49ers themselves missing five defensive starters, not least of whom was Nick Bosa.

Get where I'm going here?

Right: Prognosticating the Steelers' games has been a big bore so far.

No, really, I'll rip through video, stats, grading studies, you name it, and it all winds up being a colossal waste of time, since it's all so very easily condensed to a single question: Can the other team's offense block this defense or not?

Giants? Nope.

Broncos? Yikes.

Texans? My God, no.

The Titans would've presented the first challenge, with Ryan Tannehill's play-action precision and Derrick Henry's bulldozing offering offsetting distractions, but Mike Vrabel's reckless oversight of coronavirus protocols in Nashville postponed all that fun until later this month.

Now, here we go again. A grossly underachieving quarterback behind a grossly undermanned line. It's a turkey shoot and, if I'm being blunt, not much else in the matchup matters.

Unless, of course, anyone cares to lay out how the rugby guy will line up effectively across from Bud Dupree?

"Yeah, definitely," my man Bud casually replied when asked this week if the Steelers enter every matchup expecting to dominate up front. "We work hard. We work hard in the offseason. We work hard during practice. We just want to continue getting better each week and continue to be a threat for opposing teams, to keep that fire underneath us, to keep being the best defense we possibly can be."

Wait, did he mean up front?

If so, Bud must have meant better than their NFL rankings in the following per-game categories:

• No. 1 in sacks: 5.0
• No. 1 in sack yards lost, 37.0
• No. 1 in QB pressures: 15.0
• No. 1 in QB hurries, 6.7
• No. 1 in QB hit percentage, 30.0
• No. 1 in tackles for loss, 9.7
• No. 1 in rushing yards, 54.0
• No. 1 in rushing TDs, 0.33

Within that, the Steelers' sacks and tackles for loss are the most any NFL team's had through three games since 2007.

I mean, look, if I keep digging, I can uncover that they're, uh, No. 2 in total defense at 290 yards per game, topped only by the Colts' 236.3. So there's that to keep them humble.

Heck, just isolating on T.J. Watt's DPOY-level data should have any offense trembling:

• 3.5 sacks
• 5 tackles for loss
• 18 QB pressures
• 10 QB hits
• 1 interception
• 2 pass deflections
• 29.3% pass rush win rate

But then, that's the bigger problem, isn't it?

Because no one can afford to assign excessive attention on Watt, or it'll be Bud coming from the far bookend, or Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu from the trench, or Devin Bush or Vince Williams from the next tier or blitzing freak Mike Hilton from the back. Every last one of those players, plus Terrell Edmunds, has recorded either a sack or some other secondary stat related to unsettling a quarterback.

Sorry, but that's all I've got. Because that's all I need.

No one's going to beat this team until what's above gets solved. No. One.

Maybe the Browns can provide a push the following week with their league-leading 5.88 yards per rush, but they just lost Nick Chubb for several weeks to an MCL injury. Maybe, to reiterate from above, the Titans can be that team in the makeup in Nashville. Maybe it'll be Dak Prescott and the offensively prolific Cowboys the following weekend in Dallas.

This weekend?

Well, go right ahead and script the scenario in which Wentz walks out of the place in one piece, and we'll talk further.