Antonio Brown high-steps ahead of the late-arriving Colts for his 47-yard touchdown Sunday. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

And the Steelers’ best player Sunday was … OK, so it was the guy who had almost as many touchdown passes (six) as incompletions (nine). No surprise there. Ben Roethlisberger’s performance was one for the ages, and we’ll be lucky if we ever see another quite like it.

At the same time, Roethlisberger himself was adamant when he told me the bulk of the credit should go to the big men up front, and a rewind of the game film shows he’s right: Never mind the zero sacks. We all saw that. When really getting into the trenches, the star was much maligned Kelvin Beachum with a 3.0 grade from Pro Football Focus that rated No. 1 among all of the NFL’s left tackles for the week. And on the other, much-much-much maligned Mike Adams was quite good, too, with a 1.5 grade that was second-best on the Steelers’ line.

Maurkice Pouncey had a 1.2, Ramon Foster was solid against the run, and all starters graded positively except for David DeCastro, who continues to be inconsistent.

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Martavis Bryant catches his 36-yard touchdown ahead of the Texans’ Andre Hal on Monday. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

The rewind of the Steelers’ 30-23 victory over the Texans on Monday night will focus almost entirely, I’m sure, on those ridiculous three minutes in which the home team piled up 24 points. And that’s as it should be.

Me, I’ll take one fairly nondescript play that occurred later, in the third quarter, when Ben Roethlisberger hit Darrius Heyward-Bey across the middle for a 17-yard gain and an escape from the shadow of their goal posts.

Not because it amounted to much. It didn’t. The Steelers would punt from their 39.

And not because it was spectacular. Heyward-Bey made a very nice effort, coming back to the ball through two defenders to haul it in, but it’s a play you see a lot.

Just not in Pittsburgh.

The pass across the middle to a wide receiver, I mean.

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

News: Ravens romp, Browns and Bengals fall hard. Really hard.

Views: Insane as it sounds, the AFC North is very much there for the taking for the Steelers, whose 3-3 record matches Cleveland’s for worst in the division but is only a couple games back of Baltimore’s 5-2. And with the way the continually exposed Andy Dalton and Cincinnati’s offense are crumbling, coupled with key injuries, I wouldn’t hesitate to put the Bengals in the same class.

That said, Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ offense struck it rich the past two weeks against two terrible defenses, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. And while it’s commendable to take care of business, it’s hardly a sign of legit contention.

I’ll have a full column Monday morning on Dick LeBeau and the Steelers’ status-quo defense.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

The media, monolothic, mythical entity that it is, makes for the most convenient target. Because almost no one will disagree with any criticism of it.

It’s like my shaking my head right now at the parking ticket I just got on Fort Pitt Boulevard. I’m 100 percent guilty, I stopped the car under a stone-cold ‘NO PARKING’ sign just outside Starbucks, and knew exactly what I was doing. But I’ll still shake my head the whole drive home at the injustice of it all. Because, you know, parking tickets are always unjust.

So I’ll go on a great limb here and predict that Ben Roethlisberger’s statement today at his weekly availability that there is no panic in the Steelers’ locker room — “We aren’t panicking. I think you guys are panicking” — likely will be met with nods of approval from all over.

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CLEVELAND — These words, minus the one in brackets, came from the mouth of Mike Mitchell: “When we did what we were supposed to do, we kicked their [behinds]. They got us on a couple trick plays that really hurt us and got their momentum going.”

Which begs the obvious question. And no, not the one that asks who Mitchell is.

I’m talking about this one: Is there anyone on these Steelers that doesn’t subscribe to the theory that flying the plane successfully comes with the same value as landing it successfully?

My goodness.

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — What made Brice McCain’s decisive pick-six stand out in the Steelers’ 17-9 victory Sunday over the Jaguars wasn’t just that it was that rarest of rare sightings for the local franchise — defensive points! — it’s the unbridled aggressiveness with which they came.

I mean, McCain jumped a route.

When is the last time anyone in the Pittsburgh secondary just brazenly jumped a route, even a precarious sideline route such as the one Allen Hurns tried and failed with a slip?

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