Kovacevic: All this momentum built on an old mainstay

Jan 9, 2017 • 12:09 am

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Want to grab the low-hanging fruit?

Go ahead, because it's all ripe and right there, even with the temps in the teens.

Mike Tomlin's a moron for leaving Ben Roethlisberger in for the entirety of the Steelers' 30-12 drubbing of the Dolphins in their AFC Wild Card playoff game Sunday at Heinz Field.

He's twice a moron for allowing Roethlisberger to drop into a shotgun for the final snap.

He's three times a moron for what followed:

And he's a million times a moron by the time Roethlisberger plods into his postgame news conference wearing a walking boot on his right foot, this to protect what he described as an ankle injury sustained when Cameron Wake cleanly tackled him as he threw:

Never mind that Roethlisberger vowed, "I'll be out there next week" in Kansas City.

Never mind that he had zero limp after the tackle or in leaving the field.

Never mind that he didn't even make Tomlin's list of injured players afterward, one that only Sean Davis made, and Davis assured me he's "absolutely fine" and he'll "absolutely play" against the Chiefs.

No, it's this simple: Tomlin messed up. He had Le'Veon Bell on the sideline after his brilliant 167-yard, two-touchdown showing. He had Antonio Brown on the sideline after his five-catch, 124-yard, two-touchdown showing. And for some reason, he still had Landry Jones on that sideline, as well.

Vent away.

But in the process of picking at that fruit, pause for at least a moment to consider this: Tomlin, Keith Butler, and a handful each of veterans and rookies have revitalized this franchise down to its very root.

"In all the time I've been here and I'm sure years before, when people talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, they talk about defense," Ryan Shazier was telling me afterward. "We take pride in that. A lot of pride. We feel like we've really come together as a group. And we feel like we have our own identity. But part of that identity is going out there and being the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that means defense."

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RYAN SHAZIER TWITTER

Pictures from the Steelers' AFC Wild Card victory. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

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"In the first game, they were more penetrating guys," he began, referring to the loss in Miami. "They’re not a two-gap read-you type. They just shoot a gap, and they’re not really worried where the ball is at. Coming into this game, I made sure and understood that those guys weren’t really looking for me. They were just trying to shoot the gap and get after the pass, hoping guys pass the ball. They have great pass rushers and they depend on Suh and Jason Jones to stop the run. I feel like I had to be a little more patient. I feel like, if I read those guys well and helped the O-line, it might set up the linebackers and thing like that. There were a lot of little things that went into it, but obviously the play calls were a little different than they were last time."

That, my friends, is a prepared running back. A great running back, for sure, but also one who was thoroughly equipped on this particular Sunday to succeed.

Now, that running back, that wide receiver who's his equal in every way, that quarterback who absolutely will play, and that only-recently-unthinkable defense are only three more Sundays shy of being blissfully criticism-free.