Mike Tomlin speaks to reporters at his Tuesday press conference on the South Side. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Mike Tomlin wouldn’t confess this if offered a month’s worth of Baltimore beatings, but man, was he feeling it at his Tuesday press conference.

Asked if Le’Veon Bell riding a stationary bike was a sign he might be ready for the Ravens: “If you’re looking for comfort, it is. But there won’t be any bikes on the field on Saturday night.”

Asked how he’d characterize his feelings toward the Ravens in general and John Harbaugh specifically: “I wouldn’t. They’re the nameless grey faces that we play this week.”

Asked again about the blown fake punt Sunday: “They did a nice job. We didn’t. Namely, me.”

Asked if he’s comfortable with diminutive Dri Archer doing any pass-blocking: “I’m comfortable utilizing him with what he does best. If I want him to block Terrell Suggs, then I’m stupid.”

He’ll be there all week, folks. Try the veal.

No, but seriously, the coach was ablaze. If that microphone weren’t clipped to the table in front of him, he easily could have dropped it for dramatic effect on the way out of the room. It was classic Tomlin, deadpan, bug-eyed as he surveyed the room for doubters, the whole deal.

The coach is very much back in his element.

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Antonio Brown high-fives fans at Heinz Field after winning the AFC North Division title Sunday night. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

In the end, though it really wasn’t the end, there were as many sighs as smiles.

The Steelers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the franchise that once owned the AFC North Division, the franchise built on a foundation of defense and toughness and tenacity, made it back to that summit by borrowing from all three traits on this special Sunday night at Heinz Field and besting the Bengals, 27-17, in a mano-a-mano matchup for the title.

And yes, it was truly special. I choose the term advisedly. Because, like most of the men on this roster, I recall London all too vividly.

“Yeah, London,” Ramon Foster was saying at his stall after all the caps and T-shirts had been doled out, after all the whooping and hollering of a “very happy locker room,” as Mike Tomlin described the initial postgame celebration, had died down. “I remember London. A lot of us do. That was … man, that seems like forever ago now, doesn’t it?”

Sure does, but it stuck with you, too, I’m guessing.

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Antonio Brown fends off the Bengals’ Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones in Cincinnati three weeks ago. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A striking December sun splashed across the Steelers’ South Side fields Friday afternoon, and the din, somehow, was almost a mano a mano match for it. The adjacent rail line rattled and rumbled with the passing CSX freight train. The construction workers atop a still-skeletal office complex being built across those tracks hacked and pounded, whirred and clattered. And because all of that apparently wasn’t enough to envision how Heinz Field might erupt Sunday night, the young student the team employs to pump recorded crowd noise into practices was blaring four megaphone-sized speakers at 110 decibels squarely in the direction of the athletes.

“Red zone!”

That was Ramon Foster. Still can’t believe I could hear him from 50 yards away.

“Red zone now! Red! Red! RED!”

The big man’s got quite the big voice, suffice it to say, and it only got bigger as the Steelers’ first-team offense strode closer to the goal line. At this point, the ball had just touched the 20.

“Red zone! Red! Red!” came more calls from around the field, then even more after a Le’Veon Bell sprint up the middle pushed them a few yards closer.

And finally, when Ben Roethlisberger rifled the ball to Antonio Brown on a slick slant pattern, it became a crescendo. Even Mike Tomlin piped up.

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