Kovacevic: Sure, 10-0 would be terrific, but check off this top-10 list, too

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Still photographers are an endangered species as it is, regrettably, and the coronavirus has only further thinned their occupational ranks.

See that pic above?

I love it. Just love it.

It was snapped within the past week by Karl Roser, an employee of the Steelers and, because of virus protocols, one of only two photographers permitted to shoot practices, with the other, Caitlyn Epes, also being an employee. Thus, for a lot of us in local media, they've been our eyes, our framers of otherwise unseen moments.

And that scene up there, with the defensive guys aligned all over that metal bench as if posing for some Renaissance masterwork ... again, I love it. Can't get enough of it.

I think a lot of this team. Even more of this group of individuals who comprise it. I've written for years that there isn't another like it in town, and I maintained that through the Penguins' two recent Stanley Cups and even through the Antonio Brown circus. There's character in these people I can't come close to describing adequately. There's camaraderie, accountability and a singularity of purpose.

Long story short, it isn't to be 10-0.

It isn't to take care of business against the 1-8 Jaguars here today, 1:02 p.m., at whatever they're calling their stadium this year.

And it's long since passed the point of making the playoffs, winning the AFC North or anything of that pedestrian ilk.

It's to add to this ...

As Ben Roethlisberger blithely worded it earlier in the week, "The goal isn't to go undefeated. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. We’re just going one week at a time. We’re not worried about anything other than this week."

And this from Minkah Fitzpatrick: "There are no individuals. Everybody has the same goal. It’s easy to push your ego to the side when it’s working. The thing I appreciate most about the team is the selflessness and how there are no individuals."

That's it. That's the right approach. That's taking the week not only for what it's worth in the W column but also for what it's worth moving forward by staying humble enough to know that they can get better. Not better than the Jaguars or the two Ohio teams or the Washingtons, all still left on their schedule. But better than anyone anywhere.

As such, it'd certainly behoove them to do so by attacking those shortcomings at least as aggressively as their opponents on the scoreboard, and I've got 10 ways I'd love to see the Steelers move to 10-0, in ascending order:

10. WIN

When in Rome, right?

9. BE EFFICIENT

Getting the easy ones out of the way, and maybe getting greedy, it'd be too good to be true to see Mason Rudolph in mopup duty a second consecutive Sunday. The lost bye week still stings, and any break that can be had for Ben and other vets would be a wonderful habit to form.

Within that, let's see more rotation, especially in the trenches. Look at the birth certificates.

8. TAKE, TAKE, TAKE

Remember when we all thought there'd be no way the Steelers could rival their NFL-high 34 takeaways from 2019?

Well, guess who's right back atop the league with 17, tied with the Buccaneers.

This isn't supposed to happen. As the athletes themselves will attest, takeaways are largely a byproduct of luck. The previous year, 2018, the Steelers ranked 30th of the league's 32 teams with just 15 and, to a man, they swore they'd have had more if only that oblong spheroid had bounced a friendly way more often. And yet, here they are all over again with 11 interceptions and six fumble recoveries.

It's a trait, for sure. Get hands on the ball, and chaos will follow. The Steelers are No. 1 in sacks with 36, No. 6 in passes defensed with 44, No. 11 in forced fumbles with 11.

This week, I asked T.J. Watt, author of much of that chaos, how a defense does that two years in a row despite the luck element.

"More than anything, we're just trying to control what we can control," he replied. "That's trying to punch the ball out, whether you're the first guy there, second guy there, trying to bat passes, trying to make sure balls don't fall to the ground ... I think, like you said, the ball can bounce whatever way it wants to on game days. But we can control certain things, and that's what we're trying to do on a weekly basis."

It won't occur every week, though. It might not occur today. But sustaining that feel, that confidence, that's a heck of a weapon to carry into the winter.

On top of all this, of course ...

7. UTILIZE THE OTHER CAM

Three forced fumbles in three games, then right to the bench?

Man, I hope not. Much as it'll be a boost to the run defense and the pass rush to have Mike Hilton back today, that shouldn't relegate his replacement at starting nickel corner, Cam Sutton, in any way. He's been too sound, too dynamic.

And the same applies to Rob Spillane should Avery Williamson start seeing regular snaps. And Marcus Allen. And every other reserve who gets involved, then fares well.

"That’s going to help us, yes, down the line," Keith Butler responded when this was raised this week. "The young guys we need to come along, sometimes the only way for them to come along is for them to get out there and play. We were fortunate enough to win some games when we had some injuries and we lost a couple of people here and there."

Makes it imperative that they remain active, and not just in the roster sense. Rotate them through. Never know when it might make a difference.

6. UTILIZE THE OTHER JAMES

I go to bat so often for James Washington I feel like his personal DH. But here again, my guy was targeted twice last Sunday against the Bengals, caught both balls and converted them into 30 yards of production. He can churn yards after the catch. He can run the reverse. He can go deep and combat his way to splash on a simple jump-ball.

Hey, it's an extraordinarily deep group. I appreciate and applaud that. But there's room for one more.

5. CONTAIN ROBINSON

It's no picnic concocting concern over a 1-8 opponent, particularly when that opponent will be missing five starters to injury, not least of whom are the starting quarterback and a starting wide receiver.

But James Robinson, an undrafted rookie out of Illinois State, looks legit. In addition to averaging 4.4 yards per carry, he's shown himself to be remarkably durable in leading the NFL with 77% of his team's total rushing attempts. Not to be lost, he's got 29 catches out of the backfield for an average yardage of 7.9.

"He's a good back, a real threat," Cam Heyward stated, and he wasn't hyping for effect. 

Think of it this way: The Steelers still have games looming against Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon, both of whom they missed in their first go-rounds with the Browns and Bengals, so they can really have this run-stopping thing down by the playoffs.

4. KEEP THINKING DEEP

Not that kind of deep. This kind:

3. SCHEME RUNNING PLAYS
LIKE PROFESSIONALS

Meaning forward. Go forward.

Sorry, I'm not feeling the need to elaborate after cringing through all that east-west the past few weeks.

Forward.

In the full 10-minute talk with Randy Fichtner this week, the man mentioned the word "forward" only once, that coming in the context in broaching on his own that Derek Watt might finally see duty at fullback: "He had a limited amount of camp, and that probably put him behind the eight ball a little bit with us. He’s ahead of it now. It’s time to figure out how to use him the best, what can we get out of it. It’s got to be a part of our football moving forward because it can help."

Moving forward? 

Whatever. I'll take it.

2. BLOCK LIKE PROFESSIONALS

Few facets of the Steelers' operation have sputtered at any stage of this season the way the run-blocking's gone the past two weeks. And the fact that Mike Tomlin, Fichtner and no one associated with the line will acknowledge it doesn't make it any less true.

Case in point, when Matt Feiler was asked this week how to re-establish the running game: "I don't know. I don't know what to say. I mean, it's just kind of the way the games have been going. I think maybe we've just to got to get in a better rhythm, just ... kind of communicate."

Yep. That'll do it.

So long as, when the Steelers' linemen just ... kind of communicate, they also just ... kind of block people. Not with clumsy, collision-ridden pulls. Not with heels planted. But by rolling downhill. By being the aggressors. 

Moving forward.

And you'll never guess what that sets up for No. 1 ...

1. RUN LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

Two reporters Friday asked James Conner how to re-establish the running game. With each, he returned a response as riveting as each of his 13 rancid carries against Cincinnati, rehashing generic lines about getting better, working with this teammates, blah, blah.

So I thought I'd try a third time, asking Conner how he -- or, in real voice, a very pronounced "you, and I mean you" -- can play a role in that.

"Just keep trying to get better," he replied as if his initial reply never really stopped. "Just make sure of my ball placement, make sure I'm being efficient with my runs, and making good decisions."

Hey, we'll see. Talk's cheap, anyway. 

I know this: If I'm the Steelers, I'd trade a terrible loss to the Jaguars -- as if there are other kinds -- for a superlative showing in these top three bulleted categories. They don't need to be great at the run. They don't need to pretend to be suddenly fascinated by the fullback. They don't need to convince Ben that there's merit to keeping the ball on the ground, killing clock and so forth.

But they can't stink at it, either. They can't go sideways, literally and figuratively, in this or any other area.

That price gets paid further down the road.