The old-school method of handling a bully was not to run and tell on them. It was to punch the bully in the nose and earn his respect.
And the NFL is nothing if not old-school when it comes to many of its philosophies.
That's why with Tyson Alualu out for at least two weeks because of a sprained MCL, second-year nose tackle Isaiah Buggs can expect to be attacked early and often as he holds down the nose tackle position for the Steelers in Alualu's absence, assuming that is the case. Though he is expected to play Sunday, Buggs has been limited by an ankle injury at practice this week. If he can't go, the Steelers might have to turn to first-year player Henry Mondeaux or rookie Carlos Davis if Buggs is unable to play.
That would be yet another blow to a Steelers defense has been a bully for most of this season. And Sunday's opponent, the Cowboys, has a pretty big fist in running back Ezekiel Elliott.
With the Cowboys (2-6) planning on starting their fourth quarterback this season -- either Garrett Gilbert or Cooper Rush -- in their game Sunday at AT&T Stadium, the Steelers (7-0) can expect Dallas to lean heavily on the talents of Elliott and backup Tony Pollard. That's especially true after the Steelers allowed 265 yards rushing on the ground in last Sunday's 28-24 win over the Ravens.
Some of the rushing yardage was scheme-specific for Baltimore, which utilizes a lot of designed quarterback runs and uses a lot of run-pass options. And some of it was because the Steelers attacked the Ravens in a way that didn't allow quarterback Lamar Jackson to beat them, having outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree hit or chase him on every play at the expense of taking them out of the normal rush defense.
"Baltimore's issues are pretty specific because you've got a quarterback who can run the ball like he does," defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. "A lot of times, you try to defend the eight gaps. There are eight gaps most of the time. When you've got a quarterback that can run the football, there are nine gaps. That makes it a little bit tougher."
The Steelers definitely weren't pleased with some of the results, especially after Alualu was lost just six snaps into the first quarter. That meant Buggs, who had been inactive the previous game against the Titans, was forced to play a career-high 34 defensive snaps, while Mondeaux, signed off the practice squad the week before, saw 19. Davis, a seventh-round draft pick, was inactive.
"(Buggs) had missed a couple of holes he should have been in earlier and (defensive line coach Karl Dunbar) did a good job of correcting him and he was there at the right time," Butler said.
The Steelers entered the game against the Ravens allowing 68.8 yards rushing per game and 3.3 yards rushing per carry. They exited that contest allowing 96.9 yards per game and 4.0 per carry. Such is the effect of that one bad game.
Buggs knows he was a part of that issue.
"I got off to a slow start," the former Alabama star admitted. "At this level, when your number is called, you're supposed to make an impact right away. Mike Tomlin stresses that we've got to be ready at all times, and I got off to a slow start. I can't let that happen. I played well, but I didn't play well enough, to my ability. There are ways that I have to grow. As the game goes on, I have to be dominant. In the second half, I made those adjustments."
To Buggs' point, the Ravens had 179 yards rushing at the half and were averaging 6.4 yards per carry. They had 86 yards on 19 attempts in the second half. That 4.5 yards per carry average was still higher than the Steelers would like, but they weren't consistently gashing the defense as they had in the first half.
And Buggs was part of a key fourth-down stop late in the game on a Jackson draw that helped preserve the Steelers' lead. Just prior to the snap on that play, which came right after the two-minute warning, Cam Heyward called Stephon Tuitt and Buggs together to develop a plan.
"I kind of figured they were watching me in the second half, how I was just shooting up the field, and so I believe they tried to run the draw on that last play," said Buggs. "So I said you guys can get upfield and I'm going to sit at the line of scrimmage and wait. He did and I took advantage of it and made that play."
Heyward said the key is not trying to do too much.
It's been a common theme over the years when the Steelers have a bad day stopping the run. But it holds true.
"We've got to understand we have got to be patient with our defense," Heyward said. "Sometimes, when things are going right or as well as we want them to go, we tend to get impatient and sacrifice our gap-integrity in our alignments for, 'I've got to make a play, I've got to do this, I've got to do that,' instead of saying, 'We got this, we can rely on everybody to be in their gaps because if I don't make the play, somebody else is going to make the play.' Those are things we can correct.
"Everybody just has to do their 1/11th, and we'll be fine doing that."
Knowing that and trusting it are two different things, especially with some new people in the lineup. Not only were the Steelers counting on young defensive linemen against the Ravens, but new people at inside linebacker in place of Devin Bush, as well, in Robert Spillane in the base package and converted safety Marcus Allen in the nickel and dime.
Butler emphatically said Spillane wasn't an issue in the running game, but did echo Heyward's sentiments regarding players trusting those around them to do their jobs.
"We've got a lot of guys who have been through it. Cam has. Tuitt, he's as guilty as anyone of jumping out of the gap and then jumping back into one, but those guys know that if they do what they're supposed to do and if they play the game within the framework of the defense and rely on each other, they'll play good defense," Butler said. "I think the guys who have been around have done that. Sometimes, it takes a little while to trust each other and know that somebody is going to be where they're supposed to be."
Elliott and Pollard will be a challenge, but the Steelers would much rather stop one back than they would the threat of the quarterback running the ball along with the backs doing it. In fact, they've already shut down some of the NFL's most dangerous runners this season, holding the Giants' Saquon Barkley to 6 yards on 15 carries, the Browns' Kareem Hunt to 40 on 13 rushes and the Titans' Derrick Henry to 75 on 20 attempts.
That's what made last week so disheartening for the Steelers. They were upset when Henry gained 75 yards on them -- well below the NFL rushing leader's average -- because they expect to shut every team down on the ground.
They expect to be a bully.
"We'll get better. That was a good team," Butler said. "Do I like giving up all of those freaking yards? No, I hate it. But the truth is, we still held them to 24 points. Hopefully, we play them better the next time we play them."