Kovacevic: Minkah's magnificence lifts Steelers, spirits after T.J. injury taken in Cincinnati (DK's 10 Takes)

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Minkah Fitzpatrick streaks into the end zone with a pick-6 in the first quarter Sunday in Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI -- “That’s a player, man. A special player. You hear what I’m sayin’?”

I heard, all right. Saw it and felt it, too.

This was shared with me by Devin Bush, seated alone at his stall in a darkened corner of Paycor Stadium's visiting locker room late Sunday afternoon, as all around him a few of the Steelers were reveling in finally besting the Bengals, 23-20 in overtime, in both teams' season opener. And it's a level of reveling that can only come against a rival:

But even as Marcus Allen lured Mike Tomlin into yet another viral dance clip, Bush was peeling off scuffed pads and stained pants about as slowly as most others around him. That's how it's gone forever in this particular setting: There's pain even amid an optimal outcome. Larry Ogunjobi, a few stalls to Bush's right, allowed his head to hang between his knees for a seeming eternity. Mason Cole, a few stalls to Bush's left, could scarcely strip a sock off a sore ankle. And T.J. Watt and Najee Harris ... eh, I'll get to them.

“AFC North football,“ was how Bush would describe it moments before speaking those words above.

“AFC North football,“ Arthur Maulet would essentially echo shortly thereafter.

“AFC North football,“ Chase Claypool would pretty much exhale when this came up in our own little talk later, before adding, “It’s always been like this here, right? “

Sure has, kid. I affirmed that, upon covering every meeting between these teams at this place, the only surprise is that anyone’s ever surprised ... by all the surprises.

I’m hardly immune.

That "special player" Bush referenced above?

It wasn’t T.J., though it easily could’ve been. Nor Cam Heyward, though it easily could’ve been.

Nope. It was this special player:

A player so special he'd just crafted what could only be a safety's dream hat trick – pick-six, pass breakup in the end zone, and, oh, hey, a freaking blocked extra point with the game on the line – except that one would also have to account for a game-high 14 tackles, 10 of them solos, plus the additional not-so-small element to Minkah Fitzpatrick's defensive masterpiece.

"AFC North football."

That usage was from the man himself, when I'd asked Minkah what was most satisfying about what'd just taken place.

And here's what he meant without having to say so:

All that speed, all that skill, all those smarts ... and all that snarl still topped it.

As I'd arrived at Minkah's stall, he'd already been speaking with a Cincinnati reporter who'd just asked how he handled all the highs and lows of the afternoon. To which Minkah answered with some -- forgive me for this -- nonsense about always needing to "keep an even keel" and stuff to that effect.

So once that guy was gone, I asked this:

"    "

"Man, I just came into it ... I wanted to make a statement. Know I'm saying?" he'd reply. "Last year, I felt like it was a normal year for me. It wasn't a bad year."

It wasn't. He'd totaled nine interceptions and 20 passes defensed in 2019 and 2020, and those dropped to two and seven in 2021. Big whoop. Besides, anyone with even a cursory awareness of defensive schemes could plainly see he'd been shoved up closer to the line of scrimmage to help cope with what'd been a catastrophic run defense.

Management, most fortunately, was aware and followed through with the massive contract -- four years, $73.6 million -- over the summer ... and Minkah followed through with what we all just witnessed.

"A lot of people made it seem like I had a bad year," he'd continue that reply. "We were playing a different defense. I had to do a different role. It wasn't my typical role. But I was still playing at a high level within what they were asking me to do."

Yep. Check the tackling techniques above. He's blossomed from being a guy some in Miami accused of being gun-shy in that regard to ... well, all this.

But there had to be more to this, I thought. So I poked around a bit, just for fun. And let's just say that one defensive mate who shall not be named, through a devilish grin, came through, "I'm just gonna tell you he doesn't like those guys."

The Bengals?

"Mm-hmm. Or really, anybody else in the AFC North."

Awesome.

"When he gets going like that ... woooooo-hoooooo!" another mate added, and I didn't even get it but still thought it added something.

"There's something there," yet another added, elaborating only with, "I'm glad he's on our side."

Well, maybe that should make for the broader point here, right?

Look, T.J.'s going to be down a good while with the torn left pec, pending the results of tests Monday back in Pittsburgh. That stinks. That's arguably the worst loss this roster could absorb, and not just because of his individual elite status. His sacks, his pass rushes, his general sealing of the edge, contributes hugely to all else. Including what Minkah and Cam can do. Including to the circus-like total of four picks and seven sacks of Joe Burrow, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and five tackles for a loss.

It all starts with No. 90, and I believe that.

But here's what else I believe, especially after spending extensive time in this room: This defense isn't about to punt on anything.

"We started believing in Latrobe. Very first week," Terrell Edmunds was telling me. "We know it'll be tougher without T.J., but we also know we've got great players in here. Other great players. We've just got to keep getting after it, keep rising up."

I motioned silently toward his safety partner a few feet away.

"Ha! No, not like that! He's like magic!"

Can't argue that. So it bears emphasizing here, I'd say, that on the same field as T.J. and Cam excelling, along with Burrow and the rest of the AFC champs, only one was outright magical.

Sweet fallback, huh?

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T.J. Watt leaves the field after the game Sunday in Cincinnati.

• Please don't misunderstand: I'm not coming within a solar system of downplaying T.J.'s impact or importance. That'd be idiotic even if I'd never cite that, on consecutive plays in this game, he smashed Joe Mixon for a 5-yard loss, then leaped to pick off Burrow.

He's the best at what he does, the best on his side of the ball anywhere. And ideally, the degree of the tear won't be severe, and he'll find a way to return at some stage of the season.

But ... I feel it's fair to suggest that this defense is still strong without him. Yes, even on the pass rush.

Alex Highsmith had three sacks, two of them bull-rushes in the game's first four minutes. Cam planted Burrow on the Bengals' first snap and recorded three other QB hits. Ogunjobi had a hit on Burrow that was so mean one would never know they once shared a uniform. And not to be forgotten is Malik Reed, acquired just last week from the Broncos, and his 13 total sacks over the past two seasons in a spare role.

It won't be the same, but it'll be well shy of devastation.

• We'll see about Najee, too. Having a foot injury that gets him immediately ruled out of this game, after a foot injury had slowed him all through camp, after averaging 2.3 yards on his 10 carries with no spring to his step ... something's off there.

• Surprises, surprises and more surprises ... none of which, for me, was more prominent than that I'd blame the abysmal offense principally on the quarterback.

After months of citing every flaw conceivable with both the offensive line and Matt Canada, I saw a line here that was solid if unspectacular in pass protection -- while still needing an authoritative push in run-blocking, to be kind -- and I saw ... sit down for this ... the first glimpses of imagination from Canada. Oh, the play-calling wasn't infallible, but it was, quite literally, imaginative. Beyond even the triple-flea-flicker gadget to Pat Freiermuth, there was motions, schemes and different modes of route trees for the wide receiver.

So why didn't it work?

Mitch Trubisky was lousy.

Sure, he had the final 45-yard drive to set up Chris Boswell's 53-yard winner at the end of overtime, and he'd go 3 of 7 to account for all 45 of those yards. That was enough to prompt Tomlin to quasi-praise Trubisky in saying, "He did not blink. Made the necessary plays in the waning moments."

Uh, yippee. He also went 21 of 38 for 194 yards, he went three-and-out on 7 of 15 drives, he gained one or no first downs on 12 of 15 drives, and ... I mean, he misfired on most anything he tried at intermediate range and, otherwise, checked down just to check down.

"It can be a lot better," was Trubisky's assessment of the offense, and at least that much was on the mark.

• No, I'm not about to board any Kenny Pickett bandwagons yet. But anyone who's sensitive to the subject for whatever reason won't want to know how often I saw a situation that I thought Pickett might have -- and someday will have -- handled better. And that goes double for usage of the middle of the field.

• I spoke with three members of the O-line, and all shared my sentiment that the pass protection far outflanked the run-blocking.

Chuks Okorafor, predictably, gave me a "It's fiiiiiiiiiiiiine ... we're gonna be fiiiiiiiiiiiiine!" as if he were tucking me back into bed after a nightmare.

Seeking more substance, I got this gem from Kevin Dotson: "The biggest difference in this game, I thought, was that when things didn't go right, we knew right away why. And we could fix it. It's getting there. It really is."

• How can a wide receiver wind up with four catches for 18 yards and still have been outstanding?

I'm not sure, but Claypool did. And that includes his team-high 36 yards rushing on six carries.

"I felt good out there," he told me. "I felt strong."

• Show of hands: Who's still worried about the corner after those acrobatic picks by Cam Sutton and Ahkello Witherspoon?

Anyone?

• Am I the only one who can watch Boswell clang one off an upright and still feel 100% confident he'll make the next kick ... from 53 yards?

OK, thought not.

• This isn't a Cincinnati site, or I'd elaborate, but the Bengals are neither the favorite in the AFC -- the Bills already have that by the throat -- nor are they especially well coached. Zac Taylor did some wayyyyyy-stupid stuff from halftime onward, and he had some wayyyyyy-curious answers afterward when asked to explain those. 

Case in point: The Bengals punted the ball back to the Steelers with 1:04 left in overtime, even though there were 13 seconds still ticking on a running clock. A gift-wrapped 13 extra seconds for the opponent.

Taylor's explanation began with citing that they'd lost their long-snapper earlier in the game: "New operation. We snapped there with 13 seconds, and I understand that ... trust me, we’d rather do something different. But just trying to make sure the operation ran smoothly, it turned out that we sacrificed some seconds just to make sure that we were all on the same page there."

What?

Trust me, I'd say all the same if they'd finished off any of the eleventy billion chances they had to win.

• I make a habit of stopping by a player's stall and casually mentioning when I've noticed something they did in a game, even if just informally. And I did that with Benny Snell for a smooth tackle he registered on special teams:

""

More than 20 minutes later, as we cross paths again on his way out, he approaches, smiles and says, "Thank you again! That means a lot!"

He hasn't been what everyone hoped coming out of college, but he's embraced his role with a bite. And pride. I like that.

• Thanks to you again for reading.

And thanks, a final time, to the one and only Dale Lolley, whose closing coverage with us ... reminds us all of how smart he is. Because he accurately predicted not only the outcome but also the dominance of the defense as being pivotal.

See below for our last video together, too!

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS

National anthem at Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, Sunday afternoon.

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
• Live file
Scoreboard
• Schedule
Standings
Statistics

THE INJURIES

Five players were hurt in the game -- T.J. Watt (left pectoral muscle), Najee Harris (left foot), Mason Cole (ankle), Robert Spillane (eye) and Levi Wallace (left ankle) -- and Chris Halicke's got a separate report on that. Of the five, only Cole returned to the game.

The players who were healthy but inactive: QB Mason Rudolph, LG Kendrick Green, WR Steven Sims, DE Isaiahh Loudermilk, LB Mark Robinson.

THE SCHEDULE

The home opener brings the Patriots to town next Sunday, 1:02 p.m. kickoff. The team'll have a media access period Monday, 1:15 p.m., then resume practicing Wednesday.

THE CONTENT

Visit our team page for everything.

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