James Harrison flattens the Chiefs’ Alex Smith for a third-quarter sack Sunday at Heinz Field. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Here they go, indeed. The Pittsburgh Steelers, proud as they once were, are almost back.

And I know that not because they’re back in the playoffs for the first time in three years, not because it was the defense that pushed them through by crunching the Chiefs, 20-12, not because that defense is “attacking instead of guessing” in the words of Jason Worilds, not even because that defense was fueled by a fully reborn James Harrison, the facet that undoubtedly offered the most familiar feeling of all on this sunny winter’s Sunday at Heinz Field.

No, I know this because they still want another piece of the Bengals.

“Want ‘em bad,” Ramon Foster was saying afterward. “You look at how this has been setting up for weeks now, and this is what we’ve wanted. Beat Cincinnati, and the division’s ours. And if we get ‘em again in playoffs, that’s OK, too.”

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Antwon Blake arrives too late to prevent a touchdown by the Falcons’ Roddy White last Sunday. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Go right ahead and lay the Steelers’ seismic meeting Sunday with the Chiefs on the secondary.

No, lay the entire season on the secondary.

“Do it. Seriously, do that,” Antwon Blake fairly interjected when I broached that topic this week at the South Side HQ. “You know, that’s something Ike Taylor’s been telling our whole group. The whole game is on us. Everything is on us.”

That notion is generally preposterous, of course.

For one, this team is built on its No. 1-ranked offense. As we’ve seen time and again, when Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown aren’t at their best, the chances of victory ranged from minimal to zero. And as we’ve further seen, when the offensive line, Heath Miller, Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant aren’t at their best, the big three struggle to be at theirs.

For another, there’s no such thing as a pass defense without a strong, sustained pass rush, combined with sound run defense. If Cam Heyward, Lawrence Timmons and Jason Worilds aren’t at their best … one gets the idea.

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Willie Gay celebrates his 52-yard pick-6 with Stephon Tuitt Sunday at the Georgia Dome. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

ATLANTA — “Textbook,” Arthur Moats called it. And he was standing at the stall right next to that of Jason Worilds as he spoke. “What that man delivered on that sack was a textbook football play. It’s football. When you teach children how to tackle, that’s how you teach it. When you …”

Moats shook his head in disgust. Couldn’t even complete the thought.

So maybe that was it.

Maybe that was finally it.

Maybe that was the moment, after 14 weeks of chasing ghosts and chopping down what had been the trademark of Pittsburgh’s football franchise, that this defense had enough.

Maybe it took seeing Worilds level Atlanta’s Matt Ryan with what looked for all the world to be a bone-shaking, game-changing and, yes, clean sack, then seeing the officials toss up the yellow flag, then seeing absolute red …

“Horrendous” was Cam Heyward’s term for the call.

“Awful,” Jarvis Jones snapped off.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” Mike Tomlin barked back when I brought it up.

Maybe it took all that for the defense to finally finish a job: Steelers 27, Falcons 20

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One stoked fan cheers the Steelers’ 42-21 bashing of the Bengals Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

I like these Steelers, though I see that’s uncool.

I like that they’re 8-5, with a foothold in the AFC North, with their fate in their hands, with the most fantastic offense the franchise has put forth since … wow, ever?

But yeah, I also see and hear and read fans describing this team in the most pained tones. Tune in to any discussion anywhere in the Nation at large, and it’s invariably about the worst secondary in human history or a lack of toughness or Mike Mitchell’s loose coverage or Mike Adams’ lousy blocking or Ben Roethlisberger’s occasional inaccuracy or Todd Haley’s occasional insanity or how every Towel-waving blasting of ‘Renegade’ now results in a deflating 80-yard bomb or, really, just about anything related to Mike Tomlin.

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Le’Veon Bell tosses his gloves to Steelers fans at Paul Brown Stadium after the game. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI — Football doesn’t lend itself to individual dominance.

One hundred and six players will step into any given stadium on any given NFL Sunday, and they’ll do so with highly specific roles, a hard separation between offense and defense, and a headstrong adherence to playcalling that’s more akin to choreography.

Football often demonstrates individual excellence, within those guidelines.

But dominance?

No, that sort of category should be reserved for what Le’Veon Bell has been doing for the Steelers these past three weeks, capped by singularly swinging a 42-21 score his team’s way on this particular Sunday against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.

That’s singularly. I use the term advisedly.

“He’s doing so much in the run game, pass game, blocking game … and I don’t even know how many checkdowns he had today,” Ben Roethlisberger was saying. “His game right now is at a very high level, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

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Le’Veon Bell breaks free against the Saints’ defense on his way to 254 total yards last Sunday at Heinz Field. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI —  The Steelers will win the AFC North Division if they win Sunday.

And the Sunday after that.

And the Sunday after that.

And the Sunday after that.

No, really, they will. It’s a hard fact. Because the Steelers (7-5) would have swept the Bengals (8-3-1) right out of first place and, even if the Ravens (7-5) and Browns (7-5) keep pace, the Steelers would take the second tiebreaker — the first, of course, is head-to-head — against both those teams because of a better record inside the conference.

So there it is: Just win out, baby!

Right, gentlemen?

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