Kovacevic: Steelers must seize the one massive edge they'll enjoy today taken in Houston (DK'S 10 TAKES)

KARL ROSER / STEELERS

Markus Golden before the game last week in Las Vegas..

HOUSTON -- Sorry, but I'm hardly inclined to invest hours into all kinds of intricacies related to the Steelers' matchup here today with the Texans given the close-to-catastrophic state of the home team's offensive line come kickoff:

• Laremy Tunsil, left tackle, ruled out
• Josh Jones, left tackle, ruled out
• Michael Deiter, center, questionable
• Kenyon Green, guard, out for season
• Scott Quessenberry, center, out for season
• Juice Scruggs, center, on IR
Tytus Howard, right tackle, on IR

That's ... beyond belief. Doubly so in Week 4. The equivalent of an entire line, plus a couple of backups, all down. Players being promoted from the practice squad. Players being plucked off the figurative street.

And arguably worse by far, Kendrick Green will suit up for the Texans. He'll even start, by God.

Small wonder that, when Houston's rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans was asked by our Chris Halicke this week about this subject, he laughed out loud and answered, “Man, can they give us a break?! Don’t make it too hard on us, T.J. and Alex.”

There it is. I'm done.

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen that a football game can be reduced to a single overwhelming facet. And I'm having an impossible time even fathoming how the one today -- 1:02 p.m. Eastern kickoff, NRG Stadium -- could be influenced by anything anywhere near as much as it'll be influenced by afternoon-long feasts for T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Not to mention fellow edge rushers Markus Golden and Nick Herbig. And Keeanu Benton. And the gradually progressing inside linebackers.

As Golden told me of the defense's approach in general, "Bring da house, baby."

Tell me, please, that I'm over-simplifying. Remind me how C.J. Stroud, the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Month for September, was instrumental in the Texans' 37-17 thrashing of the Jaguars last Sunday in Jacksonville by completing 20 of 30 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Detail how, despite no running game and an already-damaged line, he was 8 of 11 against the blitz, including both his touchdowns.

Heck, read back for me the midweek transcript of Stroud showing no trace of fear in facing the NFL's most dynamic defensive bookends. 

“I have trust and faith in my guys and my job is to get the ball out on time and do whatever it takes to execute,” Stroud would say. “He’s a great player — both 90 and 56 — definitely two dogs. Even up front, their (defensive) tackles are really good, too. You have to be aware of them, but at the same time we have to have confidence in what we’re doing They have to play us, too. We’re not just going to lay down and just submit because he’s the best player. We’re really good players on this side, too.”

Not on the line. Not anymore. Whereas T.J's amassing sacks at a league-record-threatening rate with six already, on top of his five tackles for loss, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, with one of the latter resulting in a touchdown. Whereas Highsmith's got a touchdown of his own on a pick-six, plus a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and the forced fumble that set up his partner's score.

The latter tried over the past week to tamp down the obvious expectations, emphasizing, for example, that film study's complicated by having to learn tendencies of opponents with little history, saying, "Yeah, you just see whatever film they got, whether they played, you know, as backups or whether they've got preseason film. I think it's so important because you don't know who you're going against."

Yeah, no.

T.J., somewhat similarly emphasized Stroud: "He's strong. He's hard to get down. He's a guy who's gonna take care of the football. But at the same time, he's gonna let it fly. He progresses through his reads like a veteran. There's gonna be a lot of challenging things for us, but I look forward to it."

He should.

Nate Herbig and Chandon Sullivan board the team flight Saturday at Pittsburgh International Airport.

KARL ROSER / STEELERS

Nate Herbig and Chandon Sullivan board the team flight Saturday at Pittsburgh International Airport.

• I'm not making a prediction here. Rather, I'm underscoring why the Steelers have no excuse to lose in this setting. None.

• Not that it's all sunshine and rainbows on the Steelers' offensive line, either. James Daniels being out, that's a first in his Pittsburgh tenure. Nate Herbig starting, that's a first in his tenure. Man, Herbig being on the field at all feels like a first, given all the time he missed in Latrobe. And for a group that already wasn't exactly killing it in the communication/chemistry category, any further disruption's a most unwelcome development.

• Is that reason enough to keep Broderick Jones under wraps?

Honestly, it is, from my perspective. Though not entirely. Because the kid can still be utilized as an extra blocker, particularly in the very short-yardage situations that are stalling this offense more than anything else.

Put it this way: As long as Matt Canada's going to telegraph when he's passing or running and, in turn, as long as opposing defenses are content to stack all 11 in the box, might as well load up with the bigs when it's time to hand off. Put Jones out there, put Darnell Washington out there, do the tush-push, whatever it takes.

• I'm not stretching it with the short-yardage thing: The Steelers have 62 official carries through three games, and 26 of those have resulted in 1 yard, no gain or a loss. And when hamstrung by a coordinator who can't conceive of anything other than a first-down run, as if it's some ritual, that's a killer.

• Not sure I've seen Najee Harris as ... down as he's appeared of late. Also not sure if that isn't for the best. He was kinda this way before popping off after the bye week in 2022.

• A $43,709 fine for Kwon Alexander for a late hit, and a $13,792 fine for Miles Killebrew for illegal helmet-to-helmet contact both emerged yesterday, with both representing continuing signs that the NFL wants to fine its way out of its concussion crisis.

Pardon the pun, but I'm fine with that.

Not necessarily related to these or any specific incidents, but the only successful model any professional sports league's ever had for modifying behavior is to get tough. The NHL didn't get rid of bench-clearing brawls until massive fines were imposed against teams, and now they're long gone. Major League Baseball didn't get rid of four-hour games until a once-unthinkable pitch clock was installed.

Head injuries in football are real. CTE is real. Athletes' lives being indelibly altered for decades ... that's also real.

Solutions need to be equally real.

• Not spoken nearly as often, but the NFL wins another way with this enforcement, as well: More offense equals more points equals more excitement. Just saying.

• That said, it's fair in the very next breath to point out that Minkah Fitzpatrick wasn't fined for his helmet-to-helmet contact with the Raiders' Jimmy Garoppolo. Which, to me, strongly suggests the NFL's not about to go full-throttle with such applications. And that's awesome. The methodology of the tackle's got to be weighed. This was a shoulder tackle.

One final time: The refs on the field got it right. The game happens too fast to analyze intent. They saw helmets touch and a player go down. Their reaction's proper. But the suits in New York got it right, too, upon further review.

• Garoppolo's out this weekend with continuing concussion symptoms, incidentally, for anyone who accused him of milking the moment.

• More Jones. Less Dan Moore. More Jaylen Warren. Less Najee. More Joey Porter Jr. Less Levi Wallace. More middle of the field. Less rollouts to the left. More inside-linebacker stunts. Less soft-zone coverage.

But nobody ever consults me, you know?

• This'll be a scene like no other for the Steelers, and I hope it comes across on the broadcast. Because this is when the Mexicans take the stadium over like nowhere else, and it's beautiful. Colorful attire, masterful signs and a bunch of mariachi music outside.

What a cool thing that's become.

• Thanks for reading. I'll have not one, but two columns after this game, and Chris will join me here on coverage.

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