Alex Smith and Ben Roethlisberger shake hands after the Steelers beat the Chiefs, 20-12, Sunday. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 2 p.m. and tosses the keys to you to do the driving.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 2 p.m.: Away we go …

bernard.diggins: Seriously, Ben Roethlisberger has to be the real MVP of this team regardless of how the players vote, right? What is their record without Ben? Great seasons for each of the big three, but ask Mike Tomlin which player he’d most hate to lose for the playoffs, and he won’t hesitate with the answer.

DK: A lot of variables come into play with a debate like this, and it sounds like the one you’re prioritizing is the position. Almost any team would hate to lose its QB more than any other position. And that would apply doubly for the Steelers, when the drop would take them from Roethlisberger to Bruce Gradkowski.

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Marcus Gilbert was inactive Sunday in Atlanta but should suit up for the Steelers this weekend. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that will take place this week at 3 p.m., an hour later than usual. Sorry, had to allow for a doctor’s checkup scheduled for 12:45 p.m. I might be back by 2, but there’s a chance I won’t, and I don’t want to risk it.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 3 p.m.: Away we go …

Bridge: What the heck has Marcus Gilbert not done in his performance and preparation to not dictate a starting role over Mike Adams?

DK: Wow, way to start me off with an easy one!

Sorry, no idea.

I mean, Mike Tomlin did describe Gilbert’s injured ankle as not yet being ‘above the line’ at his press conference today, while at the same time saying he felt ‘positive’ about his return, while at the same time saying he wasn’t sure if Gilbert would hold his starting spot over Adams. So, one can take all of that, stir it in a pot, and still come up with nothing conclusive.

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 2 p.m. — allowing ample time for me to get over to the South Side for the Mike Tomlin press conference, obviously — and encourages you to dictate the discussion.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 2 p.m.: With the fresh news that the Pirates are bringing back Francisco Liriano for three years and $39 million — much more to come later on this — away we go:

Alan Gifford: Thoughts on the contract for Liriano?

DK: I’ve made thoughts on this clear leading up to this, and nothing changes, Alan: The Pirates needed to bring back Liriano to remain a contender. The Pirates recognized that need and took it seriously. The Pirates never took their eye off the ball, even after the Russell Martin disappointment. I thought maybe that might have gotten a bit distracted by Edinson Volquez also being out there, but last week’s Friday Insider set that straight. Frankie was the target.

Again, I’ll have much, much more on this later on the site. I just feel it’s fair to proceed with the chat at the scheduled time. But obviously, it’s a very, very good day for the Pittsburgh Baseball Club, from ownership on down.

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Jaromir Jagr and his New Jersey teammates during a game in Vancouver last week. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 2 p.m. and encourages you to dictate the discussion.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 2 p.m.: And off we go …

Snovi LLC: If the Steelers go 8-8 and/or miss the playoffs, will it be considered a mistake to bring back so many old veterans instead of letting guys like Stephon Tuitt, Dan McCullers, Shamarko Thomas, etc. cut their teeth? Might have lost a few more games, but they would have gained a ton of valuable experience.

They’re going to need these guys next year, right?

DK: Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. But I’ll take it further, because I’m not sure the Steelers would have been worse at all with those players out there learning on the job as compared to Cam Thomas, Mike Mitchell and so forth.

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Beau Bennett is checked by the Islanders’ Thomas Hickey on Saturday in Uniondale, N.Y. — GETTY IMAGES

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 2 p.m. and offers you a chance to dictate the discussion.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

Thanks to the new commenting platform, by the way, there’s a very good chance we’ll be able to conduct this chat on a live chat platform as early as next week.

UPDATE 2:01 p.m.: And away we go …

jayjay_667: Snark free honest thoughts of whether Beau Bennett can fill a top-six role by the postseason? (Without tired cliche “fragile” commentary.)

DK: Whoa there, Snark Police! Hang on just a minute here. Let’s be crystal clear on this: Bennett being fragile deserves neither your quotemarks nor your preface that it’s a tired cliche. It’s a fact. A stone-cold fact. He is injured more often than he plays. It’s been going on ever since he turned pro. It’s highly unfortunate, but it’s also very real.

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The corner opposite the Predators’ arena, Broadway businesses and AT&T skyscraper. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Welcome to the Music City edition of Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 2 p.m. and offers you a chance to dictate the discussion.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 2 p.m.: Away we go …

zidanesdagger: DK, assuming the Steelers do the right thing and kick LeGarrette Blount to the curb after his shameful quit-job last night, are they REALLY going to go with only Dri Archer and Le’Veon Bell for the rest of the season? Any potential targets they could sign?

DK: The fact that it’s now early afternoon and nothing has happened leads me to believe nothing will. These things tend to go pretty quickly. If Mike Tomlin was going to cut him over this, it shouldn’t have involved much deliberation.

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Rob Scuderi pokechecks the Jets’ Blake Wheeler last Thursday in Winnipeg. — GETTY IMAGES

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m. — shortly after I cover Mike Tomlin’s press conference at Steelers headquarters on the South Side — and offers you a chance to dictate the discussion.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit it early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live.

All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: Here we go …

Randall Alessi: I’ve heard Ben Roethlisberger and other players mention when asked about continually having issues beating obviously lesser teams how they pay no attention to that team’s current record and such. Do you buy that? If they didn’t know how bad the Jets were, they were the only ones that didn’t!

DK: They know. I think you’re blurring the line between being aware and what an opponent says publicly in the weekly run-up. Those have little in common.

That said, after asking Tomlin just now — for a second time in three days, something I usually don’t like to do — whether or not his history in losing to bad teams on the road might change anything about the preparation this week for the 2-7 Titans, I got still more about the minus-4 turnover differential. Stan Savran immediately followed up by asking if lack of preparation could have led to turnovers, and that got dismissed, too. Because, in Tomlin’s words, the offending parties were Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, who have no trouble getting ready for any game.

I get that turnovers were huge, but I also get that 53 players had a terrible game. As did the entire coaching staff. So laying it on Ben and A.B. is quite the straw man.

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