Smoking + Steak - Do We Do This?

My family is out of town so I opted to smoke a few things my wife doesn't always care for. I skewered 3 pounds of petite and yukon gold potatoes, and a couple vidalia onions for dinner. Eight andouille sausages and four fresh italian sausages joined them. Over lump and a mix of applewood and hickory on my kettle (sorry WSM fans - all I got).

Knowing I had 1 nice bone-in ribeye in the fridge, I looked at my water pan with an unsure glance - if it can reflect heat, why can't a ribeye do the same?

So I blasted it after a light coat of olive oil and salt and pepper over the hot coals and I'm pretty sure this was the best piece of meat I've eaten (until Bridgestone cooks me a horse).

I guess my question is, is it not OK to use the high heat on a two-level fire to, well, fire a steak or other animal on the hot part of the grill, and let the veg and sausages smoke away on the off side in lieu of the water pan? Sausages/veg don't seem to be done yet, as I had hoped, if that figures into the equation (water pan replaced after steak came off). Maybe it's all about vent management?