If allowing a season high in rushing yards last week to the Seahawks wasn't enough to gain the attention of the Steelers' defensive players, doing so the week before they play the Browns certainly made stopping the run a focal point.
Seattle rushed for 144 yards in the Steelers' 23-20 overtime win Oct. 17 at Heinz Field. They've had an entire week during their bye to stew about allowing that many yards on the ground.
And the Steelers (3-3) are more than certain the Browns (4-3) are going to come out running against them Sunday in Cleveland. The Browns lead the NFL in yards rushing per game at 170.4 and have a 50-50 run-pass ratio this season.
Cleveland is going to run the ball, and run it often. And the Steelers have fallen to 12th in the NFL stopping the run, allowing 107.7 yards per game.
"I think watching the film, that was the most glaring thing, especially those first two drives coming out in the second half," said Steelers defensive lineman Chris Wormley of the game against the Seahawks. "I think we held them to like 18 yards in the first half, and then it was 100-plus in the second half. Being more attentive to details is going to be our biggest thing. We did that a little last week with our practice, kind of being focused on that. Cleveland is run-first. That’s going to be our biggest challenge this week with a back like Nick Chubb."
Whether Chubb plays or not remains to be seen. He has missed Cleveland's past two games with a knee injury. Kareem Hunt filled in for Chubb two weeks ago in a loss to the Cardinals, but suffered an injury of his own and is now on injured reserve. Third-string running back D'Ernest Johnson rushed for 146 yards in the Browns' victory last Thursday night over the Broncos.
Cleveland will run the ball. And for them, it starts with their offensive line, which features guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, center J.C. Tretter and tackles Jedrick Willis and Jack Conklin. It's arguably the best offensive line in the league and one the Browns are spending more than $40 million in cap space this season.
That's why it hasn't really mattered who the Browns have run as much as how often. Chubb is as talented a running back in the NFL. He's averaged 104.6 yards per game this season. But Hunt has been effective, as well. He has 361 rushing yards, while Johnson had a 100-yard game in his one start.
"They’re big. They’re physical. They can move people off the ball when you’re not ready for it," Wormley said of Cleveland's offensive line. "As a defensive lineman, that’s going to be our biggest challenge this week, stopping the run. Guys like Conklin, Bitonio, those guys have been in the league a long time. We’re going to have to stop the run to be in the game."
Against the Seahawks, as Wormley noted, the Steelers allowed 18 yards in the first half. Then, they gave up 110 yards on 14 carries in the third quarter before tightening up again to finish the game, giving up 16 yards on the ground the rest of the way.
It was the perfect teachable moment for the coaching staff. All it took was for one player to get out of his run gap and the Seahawks were finding it. And then when the backs, mostly Collins, got a head of steam, the Steelers were missing chances to get him on the ground, whiffing on some tackle attempts.
Many wanted to blame inside linebackers Devin Bush and Joe Schobert. But defensive coordinator Keith Butler said it was a team effort for his defense, starting up front. The Steelers are missing starters Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu. That's meant more playing time for a number of players, including Wormley, next to All-Pro Cam Heyward.
And it's also led to some guys getting out of position, largely because they're getting blocked on a more regular basis than they are accustomed.
"Sometimes they were," Butler said when asked if the linebackers were out of place. "But sometimes the front wasn’t in the right place too. It wasn’t just them. There are some things we need to shore up and make sure we can play in certain situations. They ran up the middle on us a couple times. That wasn’t exactly the dadgum inside linebackers’ fault or both of them. We have to be a little bit better in terms of what we’re doing there. Not just the inside linebackers, but the defensive line and the way we coordinate the secondary and stuff like that."
Mike Tomlin has driven that home over the past week. The Steelers always play sound team run defense. And part of that is trusting everyone to do their job and allowing the plays to be made, even if it's not by one individual. In this case, too many guys were not understanding the team concept.
"(It's) just understanding spatially your relationship to the ball relative to others," Tomlin said. "There’s no need for a man to get outside of you if you have help inside of you, if you understand the knowledge of the help and things of that nature. We’ve got to keep the ball constricted, and part of it is knowledge as much as it is physical."
If the Steelers need any more reminders, they need only turn on tape of their three games against the Browns in 2020. In the first meeting, the Steelers limited the Browns to 75 rushing yards in a 38-7 win. In their second meeting in the regular season finale, Cleveland ran for 192 yards in a 24-22 win with the Steelers resting a number of defensive starters.
The rubber match in the playoffs didn't go the Steelers' way, as Cleveland took advantage of some miscues to build a 28-0 first-quarter lead en route to a 48-37 win. But the Browns still rushed for 127 yards in that game, as well.
Whether Chubb is back this week or not, and regardless of who starts at quarterback -- Baker Mayfield or Case Keenum -- the Browns are going to be intent on running the football.
"The biggest thing is communication and being on those details. We know the plays. We know where to fit when a line moves and things change like that," Wormley said. "We have certain things for this and this. It’s more so us being in the right space. If we’re in the right gaps, a lot of those runs we gave up against Seattle wouldn’t be there. That’s what we’re looking to improve against Cleveland."