With a defense that has been struggling to keep opponents off the board in the past two games, the Steelers are searching for anything that might stem the tide.
Forget the fact the two teams the Steelers have faced the previous two weeks –– Kansas City and Tampa Bay -- rank first and fourth, respectively, in scoring.
That's of no consequence to defensive coordinator Keith Butler. He's only concerned with the results. And the results through three games have the Steelers at 28th in the league in scoring defense, allowing 30 points per game.
Starting to change that is something Butler and company have been working overtime this week to fix as the Steelers (1-1-1) prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens (2-1) Sunday night at Heinz Field.
"Do they have good offenses?" Butler asked of the Chiefs and Bucs. "Yeah, they have good offenses. We have to play better though. We have a couple injuries here and there. Some guys are backing up to come in and play, tried to hold up, in terms of keeping the points. The points are my concern. We are giving up too many points. We have to stop doing that as much as we can."
Thing is, that might not be as easy as usual. These are not the Ravens of old. And the Steelers will face them without nickel corner Mike Hilton and safety Morgan Burnett. Both are doubtful to play this week: Hilton with an elbow injury, Burnett with a groin issue.
The Steelers will try to fill the void with defensive backs Cam Sutton and Nat Berhe and linebacker Matthew Thomas.
Baltimore enters Week 4 ranked fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 32.3 -- the Steelers are seventh at 29.3 -- and have scored touchdowns on all 12 of their red zone trips to open the season, an NFL record.
They totally revamped their receiving corps in the offseason, adding speedy John Brown and a big possession receiver in Michael Crabtree. Veteran slot man Willie Snead also was brought in. They've combined to catch 39 passes and four touchdowns in the team's first three games.
The Steelers, meanwhile, have allowed eight touchdowns in 12 trips inside the red zone. Three of those stops came last week against Tampa Bay, which made five trips inside the Pittsburgh 20.
The Steelers also recorded three sacks, three interceptions a fumble recovery and had double digits in both quarterback pressures and passes defended. But the end result remained 27 points against.
"The turnovers were great for us last week," Butler said. "We have to continue to do that. I think one of the most important stats in the league is the turnover/takeaway ratio, and it usually determines who wins."
The Ravens, however, have done a good job of taking care of the football. Joe Flacco has thrown just three interceptions and Baltimore has yet to lose a fumble.
But already this season, the Steelers have shown they are unafraid to shake things up with personnel to try to take away an opponents' strength.
We've already seen rookie Terrell Edmunds start at strong safety in Week 1 against Cleveland, only to give way to Burnett the next week. We've also seen starting cornerback Artie Burns benched in favor of Coty Sensabaugh last week in a 2-1 time share.
And those are just two of the moves made in the first three games. In the preseason, Thomas, an undrafted rookie, got playing time with the first-team defense to add his speed to the defense in a game at Green Bay, and the team worked extensively on a dollar defensive package with four pass rushers and seven defensive backs and other things such as outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree flipping sides.
We haven't seen much of the dollar defense thus far this season, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Thomas used a little more this week, especially against a Ravens team that will sub in speedy quarterback Lamar Jackson as a change-of-pace to Flacco.
Jackson has completed just one of four passes, those all coming in a blowout win over Buffalo in Week 1, but has run the ball nine times for 45 yards.
"They bring in (Jackson) every now and then and he gives them some different looks in the red zone," Watt told me. "They just have a multitude of stuff to make it tough on defenses. We just have to do a great job of smashing the run early and make them one dimensional.
"Anytime he's on the field, you have to be aware. But it definitely shortens their (offensive) menu. We feel like we have a good game plan in place."