Kovacevic: Just imagine what'll kick up if Rudolph drops 'dimes' all day

The English language is a fluid, fabulous, ever-evolving ... oh, thing, I guess. A word or phrase can carry one meaning for centuries, then be applied in a wholly different way with a single usage that somehow sticks.

Take the term 'drop a dime.'

It originated, by all accounts, with dropping a dime into a pay phone to call the police. Then, because sports eventually hijack all terms, it received fresh life in the past decade in describing a pass through multiple defenders. And now, it's slipped into football, with the NFL's official Next Gen Stats now assigning the term 'dime' to any pass that 'travels at least 30 yards in the air and fits into windows of one yard or less.'

Oh, come on, it's obvious where I'm headed here, right?

All right, for anyone in the Nation not already aware, Ben Roethlisberger can't play for the Steelers today against the Lions at Heinz Field because he tested positive for COVID, meaning, of course, that Mason Rudolph will start in his stead. Against an 0-8 opponent. With, coincidentally, pretty much a full week of practicing as QB1 while Ben was hurting. With his good buddy James Washington thrust into a prominent role now that two starting wide receivers are out.

You know ...

Now is it obvious?

I vividly recall covering Rudolph's performance in Cleveland in the 2020 regular-season finale, one in which he put together the following passing grid:

It's not the basics that impressed the most in that 24-22 loss Jan. 3 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Rather, it's that he attempted eight passes that traveled 20-plus yards in the air, completed half of them, and picked up gains of 41 and 47 yards for Diontae Johnson, 41 and 28 yards for Chase Claypool, the latter a touchdown.

Haven't seen much of that this season, have we?

Now, maybe Rudolph benefited from a game plan that prioritized stretching the field, with the Steelers already having clinched the AFC North and playoff position and with the Browns having a ravaged secondary. As he'd acknowledge to us afterward, "We tried to get as many shots as we could. We wanted to challenge them deep."

But maybe, too, Randy Fichtner peeled open some yellowing pages from his own playbook because he felt he could go deep with this quarterback and not the other.

I'll be honest: Beyond wishing the best for Ben's health, my first thought upon receiving the Steelers' announcement last night was about Rudolph in Cleveland. He looked cool, confident, even comfortable in a pocket, in a way I'm not sure he did even once in that emergency duty all through 2019. And there were signs of that -- eventually -- in this past training camp and preseason, too.

Not to go overboard here. I know who's No. 1, and I know, respect and appreciate why. 

But I also know there are enough stars aligning for this afternoon that Rudolph might well shine in one specific area that's handcuffed this offense for the better part of two seasons. And I further know how my beloved city, blessed with the most blissful short-term memory when it comes to sporting successes and failures, responds to that sort of thing.

It won't take a dime -- or even a penny -- to get everyone's real thoughts in that event.

• Then again, the weather might not allow either quarterback to throw past his nose. The forecast for the 1:02 p.m. kickoff calls for 39 degrees, an 80-90 percent chance of precipitation, the rain gradually becoming snow, and winds ranging from 11-15 mph.

• Can't stress this enough: Rudolph gets a ton of practice, seldom more than he did this past week, with the first team. He's only 26, and this'll be only his 16th game, but it's also his fourth NFL season. That's a lot of learning, a lot of reps.

He's not exactly being thrown to the wolves today. This is what he's paid to do, what he's expected to do. No training wheels.

• That said, none of anything matters if the offensive line gets engulfed the way it did against the Bears.

Maybe this group's most consistent redeeming trait has been how it's bounced back from bad showings. But this one arguably was the worst, as Kendrick Green and Dan Moore were rag-dolled all night, Trai Turner was a turnstile, and the rest weren't much better. It didn't feel as much like a bad game as it did just a bad line.

I'm not expecting any change today. Not in personnel, and just mildly in performance.

• Solution: Run, Najee Harris, run. At least to set the stage and back the linebackers off the box. Detroit's defense ranks fourth-worst in the NFL at stopping the run, conceding 134.5 yards per game, and that's got to be exposed early, regardless of ground conditions.

• The Rudolph-Washington narrative's always fun, but here's betting he and Ben will have in common a faith in finding Pat Freiermuth on the field. The kid's been targeted 20 times over the past three games -- 16 catches, 145 yards, three touchdowns -- and it'd be nuts to veer off that course. 

• Don't know about anyone else, but if I'm Dan Campbell, the Lions' rookie head coach, I'm losing a lot of sleep after my staff and I just spent six hard days preparing for a quarterback who can barely move vs. one who can at least roll out on occasion. 

• Want to detect right away how Rudolph's day will go?

Watch the feet. If they're bouncing like popcorn kernels, he's in trouble. But if he shows poise in the pocket, as he did in Cleveland, it'll be Detroit's defense that's in trouble.

• No part of me can process that the Steelers' starting secondary still has but a solitary interception, the deflected ball that fell into the hands of Terrell Edmunds more than a month ago.

How does that happen halfway into a full NFL schedule while playing behind a defensive front that features T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward wreaking endless havoc?

• Why do Mike Tomlin's teams always lose these games?

Answer: They don't. Like, ever.

Today will mark the sixth time Tomlin's faced an opponent with a record of 0-6 or worse, and he's won all five.

Expanding that, and relying again on independent research I did on this front two years ago -- updated, of course -- Tomlin's career record against teams that finish a season with a losing record is 93-35-1, good for a .726 winning percentage. That's the third-best success rate of any NFL coach during his 14 years in the league, and it's better than Chuck Noll's .725 (137-52) and Bill Cowher's .723 (102-39).

Narratives hate facts.

• Regardless, those events do happen. There were two last season alone with the hideous losses to Washington and Cincinnati.

What's more, there's one winless team left in the NFL, and there won't be any when the season ends. That's all anyone needs to process before taking the Lions lightly, in addition to this gem from Ben earlier in the week: "We're not exactly the best team in football right now."

They aren't. But a W on this day puts this team atop the AFC North, which would be welcome territory under any circumstance.

• Thanks for reading, as always. I'll cover the game and write again for tomorrow.