Kovacevic: Ben and the Steelers' baby-faced offense begin reaching up

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- "You know how it is. It's football. You're built for it, though."

This was Mike Tomlin. To Najee Harris.

This was minutes after the Steelers' stirring-but-don't-dare-call-it-stunning 23-16 spilling of the Bills at Highmark Stadium in the marquee matchup of the NFL's opening Sunday. Those two were among the last to climb up the tunnel ramp to the locker room in this creaky old suburban crater, and they were appreciably quieter, calmer than most. Just the head coach and the franchise's new prize, with the former punctuating his statement with a thump atop the latter's helmet.

From what I could witness in shooting this, it was more of a teaching moment:

Funny, the entire event felt that way, didn't it?

It could be easily lost amid the dominating defense that drilled Josh Allen and one of the league's most explosive offenses -- ‘I have an expectation our defensive unit is going to be in every game like that, if I’m being honest with you,’ Tomlin would almost crow afterward -- but the Steelers' own offense, very much a work in progress ... made some of that progress.

Look, I'm not about to sugarcoat how this started. It was brutal, at times embarrassing. But man, did it morph. Not just into production, but promise.

First half: Three first downs, 52 yards, two sacks, a fumble and, after eight-plus months of angst about the running game, seven Najee carries for 8 yards.

First play of the second half: Najee up the gut for 9, exceeding the first-half total.

First drive of the second half: 69 yards, field goal, exceeding the first-half total.

Next drive: 62 yards, field goal.

Next drive: 52 yards, touchdown.

Next drive: 48 yards, field goal.

Next drive: Victory formation.

I asked the architect in the sweet salmon-colored suit what'd changed:

"I think it was guys just settling in," Ben Roethlisberger replied. "We had a lot of first-timers out there. And that’s a hostile place. Those fans are awesome. They were loud. It was very, very loud."

Yeah, it was loud. But what Ben was wriggling around there was that, out of the 69,787 on hand, an unhealthy percentage made themselves seen and heard, as ever, in the worst way. Always been that kind of place.

"Pat grabbed me afterward like, 'Holy cow, it’s loud out there,' Ben continued, referencing Pat Freiermuth. "I said, 'Yeah, welcome to the NFL.' There were a lot of environmental factors. That’s fans. That’s weather. That’s a really good defense, a good team."

He paused and smiled.

"You know what? I’m proud of the guys because — I hate to use a Coach Tomlinism — but they didn’t blink. They stood up in the face of not playing well early. We didn’t make the big mistake, either. That was huge. We didn’t do what we wanted to do, but we didn’t turn the ball over, didn’t do anything catastrophic. The fact that we came in at halftime, and it wasn’t like there was a big rah-rah, no one really spoke and acted crazy. It was just like, 'OK, this is what we’re going to do in the second half. Let’s go do it.' "

Which they did. And it's not so much the what in this equation as it was the who and the how:

That's Chase Claypool. He's 23. Second year in the NFL, with his only previous experience within a pandemic. As Ben noted, "Some of our guys, like Chase, have never played in front of fans. This is a new environment, and it’s a hostile environment."

Right. So while Claypool obviously played in front of big crowds at Notre Dame, there wasn't a whole lot of holiness happening in the stands here.

That catch, reminiscent of his twisting, turning gem in the 2020 opener, is one that not many can make. It set up the Steelers' icebreaking field goal in the third quarter to cut Buffalo's lead to 10-3. He'd have three catches in all for 45 yards, as well as a 25-yard end-around.

That's Freiermuth on the next drive, also leading to a field goal. He's 22. A rookie. That's his only catch in the NFL. He'll wind up with a ton more.

And then there was this:

That's Diontae Johnson. He's been around a bit. Third year. He's 25. But he's still my breakout choice on this offense, if only because I couldn't be more certain he hasn't come close to his ceiling.

That up there, my friends, that's his ceiling.

Understand, this young man might've feared his season over in the first quarter when felled near the line of scrimmage by a right knee injury. He writhed on the turf, covered his face with both hands and needed several minutes of medical attention before limping off with some assistance.

And then, that.

"It was just really concentration," Diontae would explain in his characteristically soft tone. "Just keeping my eyes on the ball throughout the whole play and just making the play. Getting to taking the lead, at that. We just thought someone had to make a play, and I just stepped up to help the team."

To the injury, he shrugged and offered only, "I just kind of got tied up in the play and whatnot. My knee was a little banged up, but I’m fine. Just came back in the game and helped the team win."

He did. Five catches for 36 yards, that touchdown, and a defensive holding drawn in the fourth quarter that, as Ben lamented, "would've been a touchdown." Yep. And 75 yards to boot. Still sustained another field goal drive.

Now, what about Najee?

There wasn't much statistical weight to his first real action, and I'm sure plenty enough people will be impatient about that even in the context of a supremely uplifting win. He'd run 16 times for 45 yards, caught one pass for 4 yards, and had two others trickle off his fingertips, one of which would've brought a walk into the end zone.

But he also had that 9-yarder to open the second half and the 18-yarder just above to set up Diontae's touchdown.

Bearing in mind that the Bills have a pretty good defense of their own -- and spent a loot of cash reinforcing the front, in particular -- there's no shame to be had.

In all, the offense started four rookies -- Harris, Freiermuth, Kendrick Green and Dan Moore -- two others entering their second year in Claypool and Kevin Dotson, two others entering their third in Diontae and Zach Gentry, who'd logged only 69 NFL snaps before this but was a fixture at tight end on this day for his blocking.

That's roughly half of everyone on the field surrounding the 39-year-old Canton-bound quarterback. That's ... insane.

So I wasn't surprised that, when I asked Tomlin what might've changed for his offense at halftime, he slid away from any strategy and so forth, and stuck by what was most obvious: "We’re not worried about style points. We’ll let you guys write whatever stories you guys want to write. We knew it would be tough sledding. They’ve got a great defense. They’ve got continuity, not only in players but schematics. We were playing them in their place. We had a bunch of new pieces. We weren’t style point-oriented today. We just had to win this game."

A bunch of new pieces. That was it. Could've saved himself a few syllables.

By the way, Najee's response to Tomlin's aforementioned assessment about his being "built for it?"

"Straight up."

• Repeating, there's no sugarcoating. Definitely not with the offensive line.

When I asked Ben how they fared, he replied, "I thought they played well. First game against a really good defense. It was loud. It was really loud. I don’t know the numbers. It doesn’t matter because we won. I’m proud of them."

Nice. I can be proud of my kids for trying really hard on a really hard school exam, but a failing grade will still really stink.

They stunk. And no one stunk more than the one who'd been expected, in some ways, to lead them: Chuks Okorafor. I can't count the number of times I isolated and watched him get shoved back as if on rollerblades or, worse, allow an opponent to dip around him untouched. If he'd been at left tackle -- where this coaching staff for some crazy reason thought he'd fit through camp -- rather than right, there's no way Ben walks out of this place under his own power.

Zach Banner has two more games to miss on Injured Reserve. I expect he'll be ready to retake right tackle after that. But in the interim, this can't be accepted. Outside help is needed, and it's needed ... a week ago.

• Remember, Kevin Colbert's still sitting on a virtual stash of available cap space, approximately $7 million. It's not doing anyone any good where it is, and it'll do this offense -- and Ben -- a world of good if it goes toward help. Waiting past Week 1 allows NFL teams to avoid guaranteeing a full season's pay, but that's now passed. Get moving.

• So, what'd everyone think of Ben, independent of all else?

From this perspective, he wasn't perfect but plenty good enough: 18 of 32 for 188 yards, a touchdown, zero picks and two sacks taken. He seemed limited early, lowlighted by a reluctance to throw deep, but everything opened up for him -- and the whole offense, not coincidentally, after halftime. Maybe most impressive, his 18 passes were spread to eight different receivers, and the velocity and accuracy only sharpened as the game proceeded.

This, too: There were wind gusts nearing 20 mph throughout the game, their impact evident not only the upright flags atop the stadium but also the field.

"The wind was a factor," Ben allowed, "but not an excuse."

And this: It was his first experience without a coordinator on the sideline, with him referring to Matt Canada being up in the booth "definitely different."

He still made more throws than he missed. He still won.

• Tomlin's anything but the boastful type, so feel free to publish this postgame quote from him in the appropriate big, bold font: "We played Steelers D. I have an expectation our defensive unit is going to be in every game like that, if I’m being honest with you."

Oh, my.

I knew they'd be good. I knew they'd have a shot here. I had no clue it'd be like this. Not against this opponent. Not without Stephon Tuitt. Not with both inside linebackers, Devin Bush and Joe Schobert, still making independent adjustments into the season.

But hey, guess who essentially echoed Tomlin.

"This," Allen told reporters on the Buffalo side, "is going to be one of the better teams we play all year, to be honest."

• Next time the Bills face one of those better teams, they'll need far better coaching.

The Buffalo coaching staff's call early in the fourth quarter to have Allen pitch back to a running back, Matt Breida, on a fourth-and-1 try at the Pittsburgh 44 ... might've been one of the dumbest damned things I've seen in a lifetime of covering football at any level. And it received what it deserved when Cam Sutton sniffed it out, with a strong assist from Melvin Ingram sealing the edge, for a 7-yard loss.

Fans across Western New York were crushing Sean McDermott, the Bills' head coach, and Brian Daboll, the offensive coordinator, long after the immediate boos here had subsided, isolating on this as having altered the game, as Buffalo's 10-6 lead was soon a 13-10 deficit following Diontae's touchdown.

McDermott's only comment when questioned about that: "I've got to do a better job with that one, as well."

• It's OK to acknowledge when Tomlin and staff outcoach the other side. And I'll do that even aside from that Buffalo whopper.

For one, as Tomlin and multiple Steelers disclosed afterward, they'd seen the Bills in that same formation three times in the preseason. As such, even though it never resulted in an actual pitch, the players were made aware of the possibility. Full credit to Sutton and Ingram, again, for making the right read, but someone had to give them the right book. That's excellent scouting and prep.

For another, Keith Butler, who wouldn't get credit for the polio vaccine if he were Jonas Salk, crafted a defensive scheme tailor-made to foil the Allen offense in that he trusted a four-man front to generate pressure without blitzing -- only two in 54 dropbacks! -- and kept so many players in coverage that Allen seldom saw a receiver open.

As Cole Beasley, one of those receivers, bemoaned, "Every time we went off the line, it was like two guys were waiting."

Cam Heyward, who wreaked most of that havoc himself, shrugged it off.

"We stress getting four-man pressure," he said. "You can’t just rely on your blitzes. You’ve got to be able to mix it up. When we’re hitting home with four men, it makes us a harder team to beat."

Full marks also to Tyson Alualu and Chris Wormley, who accounted for most of Tuitt's absence.

• All T.J. Watt achieved in his first real football action since January was two sacks, one of those forcing a fumble that Heyward recovered, and five quarterback hits.

I asked how it felt, after his contract and all those prideful words he'd put forth about what it means to be part of the Steelers, to win a game like this in the same week.

"Always feels good to be 1-0," he came right back.

Message received. Time to earn it.

• Sizzling take: The rotating triumvirate of Watt, Ingram and Alex Highsmith will be better than the one the Steelers had last season with Bud Dupree as starter and a rookie Highsmith in the dual-backup role. And no, I'm not saying that at all because Bud was limited to a single tackle in the Titans' 38-13 loss to the, um, Cardinals on this same day in Nashville.

• Don't overstate this -- it's still one game of 17 -- but don't undersell it, either.

The players sure didn't, whooping it up in the locker room loud enough to be heard through the wall in the adjacent media interview area where reporters were limited.

Tomlin seemed no less moved, palpably upbeat as he reached the podium.

"I can’t say enough about the effort of our guys, their ability to collectively smile in the face of adversity," he beamed. "We knew what type of day we were going to have here today from an environmental standpoint, not only just in terms of the crowd but the many new pieces we have on offense, young guys and so forth."

There are games on the schedule teams are expected to win, games they're expected to lose. It's safe to say most of us -- myself included -- thought they'd lose this. But they didn't, and that's mega-huge in the standings -- beating good AFC teams is big with tiebreakers -- and with development.

Yeah, they're the Steelers, but they're developing. They're teaching.

Looks like they're learning, too.

THE ESSENTIALS

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THE INJURIES

• Robert Spillane, Steelers linebacker, sustained a shin injury in pregame warmups. Rookie Buddy Johnson, who'd been set to be inactive, made his NFL debut.

• Diontae Johnson, Steelers wide receiver, sustained a right knee injury in the first quarter but returned soon after. See above.

• As for anyone else, Tomlin added only that there were "the usual bumps and bruises."

THE AFC NORTH

• Baltimore
• Cincinnati
• Cleveland

THE SCHEDULE

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