Kovacevic: The path back from being pounded ... is to pound right back

For all the NFL's schematic intricacies, all the available pieces and parts in personnel deployment, all the adjustments anyone could conceive, there remains only one real solution to being "kicked in the teeth."

Don't overthink it.

"Our goal," as Isaiahh Loudermilk was telling me this week, "is to be physical. To put our hands on people. Especially given the showing we had last week, getting run all over. It'll be huge for us to make sure we're the ones setting that tone, that we're the ones being physical."

Mm-hm.

Don't misunderstand: These Steelers need a whole lot more than a little snarl to bounce back tonight against the Browns, 8:15 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium. They'll need Kenny Pickett to throw the football where he actually aims it. And run the ball like they mean it. And defend the NFL's very best at running the ball himself, Nick Chubb. And pressure Deshaun Watson at a deep-tissue level. And of course, they'll need a slew of standard-is-the-standard stuff to overcome the absences of Cam Heyward and Diontae Johnson.

But let me share this statistical slice, courtesy of the team's Michael Bertsch:

That's ... stunning. Across the board. First and foremost, in that there've only been a dozen losses of 20-plus points over a decade and a half. But also in how remarkably they've rebounded almost every time.

Now, one more, and this is something, too: Teams that faced the 49ers in 2022 went a cumulative 0-15 in their following week.

Common denominator?

Here again, don't overthink it.

San Francisco's dominance in that 30-7 opening romp was rooted, as I wrote after the game, in an absolute beating that was administered. With precious few exceptions individually, the Steelers were nothing less than emasculated on both sides of the ball. They were blown up in the trenches, bowled over most everywhere else. And by the time they reconvened for the past week of practices, they had a quarter of the roster's names accompanied by parentheses. Significant injuries, bumps and bruises, limps ... unlike anything I'd seen at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in some time.

That's what the 49ers have done for a couple years now. They don't just beat you once. They make it linger, like a football form of shell shock.

So what the Steelers need to do is what they've done forever under Tomlin, and that's to become the aggressor. Which also happens to be part of an established script. I've covered the man's entire tenure, and I've known him to follow up on any poor performance -- regardless of the score -- by emphasizing physicality. All week long. Above all else.

This wasn't an exception.

"Physical, physical, physical," Keeanu Benton confirmed for me.

Which feels odd to be discussing now, considering this also was the emphasis all summer. Including with the roster construction.

“I do feel like we were pretty physical all training camp," Kwon Alexander replied when I broached that with him. "Whatever happened last Sunday ... I mean, everybody saw it. But it’s a good thing we’ve got 16 more weeks to prove what we can do. We’re a pretty physical team. We know that. We’ve just gotta come out and bring it.”

Like Darnell Washington vs. Nick Bosa:

Like T.J. Watt vs. the world:

It's not always a complicated game.

• Chubb won't be stopped. He might not even be slowed. But he can't be allowed to stomp people at will. If that sounds like setting the bar too low, sorry, that's just the effect of not having Heyward, of having Larry Ogunjobi still hobbled by the bad foot, and of having way too many younger defensive linemen left in their wake. It'll be a challenge and a half, one that, if the Steelers succeed, will be a stirring success story.

On the bright side, Benton, who graded higher than any NFL rookie in Week 1 save for the Eagles' Jalen Carter, both looks and sounds like he's ready to make a difference through more snaps.

My minute with the young man this week:

How about that maturity, huh?

• One couldn't turn an ear in any direction these past few days on the South Side without hearing Chubb's name, and that's as it should be. But someone tell me, please, who on this defense is a match for perennial wrecking crew David Njoku. Two meetings with the Steelers in 2022 saw him catch 13 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, with no solution ever in sight.

No, really, who's up to that assignment?

• Najee Harris, first-round running back. Let's see it. No team investing a first-rounder in a running back should enter any stadium expecting that the other team's running back will be miles better.

• Double-digit targets for George Pickens. Let's see that, too. At long last. Through 18 NFL games, he's never had more than eight in any single day. That's criminal on Matt Canada's part. It's a wasted weapon. And without Diontae there to take targets, it'd be utterly incomprehensible.

Look, I'm all in favor of more work for Allen Robinson and Calvin Austin, but the splash will have to at least rival the rhythm for the offense to work. Big plays will be a must.

• My sense for Pickett is that the very first drive will define everything else. If he feels good about the offense -- and himself -- then some of that preseason mojo can come back in a hurry. If it's a three-and-out ... then a fresh, familiar hole gets dug.

Throw the ball straight. That's all.

• Simple solution for the tackles if Chuks Okorafor can't go, and that's to stick Washington next to his best bud Broderick Jones and shove as a tandem. It'll be just like Georgia.

• The San Francisco faithful, flush with all that Silicon Valley cash, pulled it off again yesterday in Los Angeles:

That doesn't mean it'll happen here again, though. Cleveland ain't the Bay Area when it comes to the haves, so nobody's about to skyrocket the prices. What's more, I've got a feeling that there'll be a lot more of the Steelers' out-of-town season-ticket holders on hand for this one. Monday night, divisional opponent, easier travel day, etc. Plus, maybe a few were embarrassed by what happened here in the opener.

Guess we'll see.

• The Bengals are 0-2 after losing to the Ravens, 27-24, yesterday in Cincinnati. They're hardly dead. Too much talent. Too much Joe Burrow. But consider this a friendly reminder that nothing makes anyone look sillier than predicting NFL dynasties. The way some spoke of this group upon their reaching the Super Bowl a couple years ago, one would've thought they'd steamroller the AFC North through the next century. It's football. Things change. Quickly.

Related: If one presumes the Bengals will persevere and make the playoffs -- and that still feels like a smart forecast -- that affords the rest of the division a little extra margin for error.

• Exhibit A for why no one should ever declare prohibitive favorites in the AFC North: Lamar Jackson's now 6-1 in his career against the Bengals with 1,333 passing yards, another 588 on the ground, 10 passing touchdowns and two on the ground. That's rising up to divisional ball. And in this division, that transcends.

No, really, I've been tough on Jackson's passing, but check out this touch to Nelson Agholor:

My goodness. That's third-and-5 at the Cincinnati 18 in the fourth quarter of a tight game. He's still Lamar.

• Make no mistake: The Steelers will have to fight. A hell of a lot harder than they did in the opener.

• Thanks for reading. I'll have two full columns, a Grind and a 10 Takes, after this game tonight. And all season long.