Kovacevic: Defense gradually getting back to bringing about real belief

"Maybe you guys'll start to believe us."

I've always found it both fascinating and worthy of admiration that, unlike the overwhelming majority of public speakers in professional sports, Mike Tomlin seldom addresses the media as if it's some monolithic conduit to the masses. Nope, it's all person-to-person. He's addressing those of us he's facing, right there in front of him, and not a solitary soul anywhere else.

So when he snapped off those seven words with a slight snarl Sunday in Cleveland after the Steelers' 15-10 victory there, I didn't have to wonder who was the intended target. It only could've been, collectively, me, Dale Lolley and the dozen-plus other reporters who regularly cover the team. We're the ones he sees as ... oh, non-believers, I guess.

Now, I don't share this because I care. What any coach or manager thinks about my level of faith in their respective team doesn't register the most microscopic blip on my radar.

But I'll admit here and now that, in a bit of an objectivity self-examination, I did later ask myself the following: Do I actually believe this group will achieve anything meaningful in 2021?

To which I reflexively self-responded: Wow, like, no!

Pushing a little further, I then asked myself: What, if anything, might change that?

And as I was about to reflexively self-respond with something just as cynical, this time with an added sprinkle of being pummeled at home by the bleeping Bengals ... I took a few more seconds with this one. Then a few more. Then still more.

And finally came back with a single word: Defense.

Yeah, remember defense?

Maybe it's been forgotten around here -- heck, I've clearly let it lapse in my own mind -- but the NFL had no more dynamic defense anywhere in 2019 and 2020 than the one in Pittsburgh that delivered a league-high 65 takeaways in that span, that was equally devastating against the pass and the run, that could declare bona fide star talent at three positions: T.J. Watt. Cam Heyward. Minkah Fitzpatrick. Plus Stephon Tuitt when healthy. Joe Haden when a year or two younger. Tyson Alualu, though under-appreciated. And that's to say nothing of first-round pedigree in Devin Bush and Terrell Edmunds.

How's that get forgotten?

Could be that Bud Dupree's injury was the threshold from which 11-0 went to 1-5 last season. 

Could be that the search for Mike Hilton's replacement brought about endless handwringing all through training camp.

Could be that we overestimated both those players while also underestimating Alex Highsmith and the various slot corners who'd succeed Hilton.

Could be that nearly half the defensive depth chart would go down with a groin injury.

Could be that Watt, who's game and a half lost to his own groin injury, just happened to be out for his team's most miserable game-and-a-half stretch, against the Raiders and Bengals.

Could be that the Browns moved the ball far too easily on the first couple drives Sunday, though Tomlin pointedly took personal blame for that in acknowledging poor schematics that'd be altered.

Could be that, while Watt and Heyward have excelled, the third of the star trifecta, Fitzpatrick, still hasn't found the necessary good fortune that's always part of getting picks.

Could be that the continuing and open-ended absence of Tuitt has brought lost hope on that front.

But it also could be that we've invested almost all our worrying on the other side of the ball. You know, Ben Roethlisberger being too old or too slow or too cautious or too hurt. And Najee Harris needing room to run. And JuJu Smith-Schuster going down. And no throws going across the middle. And no one running routes beyond the sticks. And no answers from Matt Canada. And maybe above all, nobody but children being paid to block. 

It's all been offense, offense, offense. All the headlines and hysterics, all the dialogue and drama, everything's been about the offense.

Funny thing, though: While the offense has been broadly applauded for what's been incremental improvement at best -- I'm no exception -- the defense has steadily, seemingly without notice climbed back up to No. 11 in the NFL in total defense, allowing an average of 345.7 yards per game.

Know who's No. 1?

Bills. And the Steelers' defense outperformed theirs head-to-head in Orchard Park.

No. 3?

Browns. Outperformed their defense, too, and markedly.

No. 6?

Broncos. See above.

I realize there's more to comparing defenses than head-to-head, just as I understand there's no erasing what's gone wrong for the Steelers along the way. But sorry, I'm not about to dismiss when I'm seeing what looks like a very real revival from a defense that's got as much or more recent history on its side than any of those other teams.

So, let me get back to that self-questioning: What would it take to believe that this defense could make that much of a difference?

Well, first off, I'll need to see the line fortified. Heyward needs help, not just in action but also in a reduced snap rotation. If that means Tuitt and/or Alualu returns, awesome. But not being able to count on either, man, it'd sure be welcome if Kevin Colbert could cough up some or all of that absurd $11 million in cap space on a trade before the NFL's 4 p.m. deadline today.

Bring back Javon Hargrave, right?

He's got one year left at $13 million after this one, eminently affordable in both seasons, and he's been exceptional for the Eagles, who've already signaled their intention to punt on the season. Call until someone picks up.

If it can't be Hargrave, get someone else from the outside. Or at least try. Chris Wormley and Isaiah Buggs both bounced back nicely in Cleveland, but the memory of them getting gashed by the Seahawks' seventh-string running back should be searing in Colbert's consciousness. That can't be allowed to happen again, and hanging hope on Wormley, Buggs and Isaiahh Loudermilk is nothing more than that.

What else would it take to believe?

More Minkah magic would help. Nothing flips an outcome like flipping the field, as Joe Schobert showed Sunday. A football's an oblong spheroid that seldom bounces the way anyone expects, so takeaways are largely luck, even for the most skilled of athletes. But those athletes are also best equipped to be on the scene and doing the right thing.

More of a presence from Bush wouldn't hurt, either. I get that he's not himself, and it's got to be the knee. That couldn't have been more glaring in the preseason when he couldn't even cover tight ends. But maybe more snaps will lead to more comfort will lead to more impact.

At the coaching level, I wouldn't mind seeing more of an aggressive attitude brought back by Tomlin and Keith Butler. To their credit, in their two biggest wins against the Bills and Browns, they've backed off appropriately and made life a matchup hell for their opponents. But ultimately, they'll want to get back to their identity and get after it. That goes double for Watt.

The offense matters, obviously. A terrible offense can undo a season, as was just seen in 2020. But this offense isn't terrible and, with Najee and the line maturing each week, it might make it to average at some point soon.

The defense still matters most. Because the defense is the only facet of this team that has a chance at being elite. I'm not predicting that status, but I'm also not ruling it out. And if it does reach that level, while the offense becomes just average ... hey, isn't that what everyone wanted to see in 2020?

There, how's that for belief?

KARL ROSER / STEELERS

Ben Roethlisberger celebrates a touchdown Sunday in Cleveland.

• Melvin Ingram? Seriously? Who cares?

• The only trade that'll matter before the deadline today will involve arrivals, not departures. Because if there isn't one or more, I dare say that'll reflect awfully on management. It's nonsensical to bring Ben back for a potentially final season, then to leave $11 million in cap space on the table. That cap space helps no one as a carryover. Already tons of space for 2022.

If not Hargrave, then, if the Eagles insist, it'll be OK to take Fletcher Cox. But only if they insist.

• In reviewing the game a second time via video, the Steelers' offensive line was even better than I'd thought from the press box. And yeah, that includes Dan Moore despite his being beaten far too easily on several occasions by Myles Garrett. I get that Garrett's supposed to win, but I also get that there's such a thing as too easily in any man-on-man matchup. Moore generally acquitted himself well.

More pertinent: Zach Banner doesn't need to be on that field until needed. And right now, he isn't needed. This is the best the line's been by far, and even having Banner with a helmet doesn't make much sense in that he'd only be able to back up at right tackle whereas Joe Haeg can handle both.

• Similarly, feel free to leave Eric Ebron on the sideline, as well. Partly because Pat Freiermuth and Zach Gentry are far better -- and more willing -- blockers, but partly because of this:

NFL NEXT GEN STATS

That graphic's the unmistakable evidence of a quarterback who finally felt OK throwing to the middle.

I asked Freiermuth about that, and he replied, "It was huge. Obviously, I had a couple of catches in the middle of the field, and Zach had a big third-down conversion over the middle of the field. When you find the middle of the field and utilize it in our offense, that moves."

• Anyone still fussing over the fake field goal?

I've got two thoughts on this:

1. Chris Boswell's injury occurred because of a cheap shot by the Browns' Jordan Elliott, and that was supported by no less than Gene Steratore last night:

Elliott's going to get hit with a stiff fine, and deservedly so. Not that it'll undo the wrong in the game, of course. The Steelers should've gotten a first down with the personal foul call, and the touchdown that would've followed.

Oh, and they should've had their kicker, too. Boswell wasn't hurt in the course of normal game action. He was hurt because a guy went well out of his way to take a cheap shot at his head. To try to connect Tomlin's decision to a cretinous move by Elliott is a desperate reach. Kickers get asked to throw fake field goals all the time. They don't get asked to absorb cheap shots to the head.

2. I still hated the call.

Every coach values a halftime lead, no matter how small, and especially when it's gained extra late in the half.

Also, as Tomlin commendably called himself out on this count, that play's got to be a 100-percenter in practice and in theory. There's got to be a seamlessness to it in drills, and there's got to be something recognized in the Cleveland tendencies to exploit. Otherwise, kick.

• Quick, now that the Chiefs are looking brutal even when they win, and now that the Titans have lost Derrick Henry, who's the AFC's best team?

Ha! Gotcha!

And if anyone comes back with Buffalo, I've got an equally quick counter.

Don't pretend the caliber of the conference won't be an issue moving forward. It's all relative. And as I'm seeing it, the AFC North's holding three, maybe even four playoff teams.

• For the record, Tomlin never elaborated on the quote that's atop this column, although the context was an answer about rookie performance. But I don't think it'd have mattered anyway. There's a defiant edge to this group. They're all saying stuff like that right now.

Hey, whatever works, right?

• Let the record also show that Tomlin almost always waits for his players after the game, win or lose, by the locker room door ... but in Cleveland, he stayed outside and made sure it was all in full view:

• Bears and Lions! Oh, my!

• The Steelers are back to practice Thursday, and the Penguins are back in action later that night against the Flyers. I'll cover the latter.

Thanks for reading, as always.