Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is completing a career-high 70 percent of his passes for a career-long 8.3 yards per attempt with a 101.6 passer rating, which is second-best in his career.
So, it only makes sense that Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said in order to stop Allen, "You've got to stop the running game."
Yes, it makes sense if you've followed Austin's logic all season.
That was his and the Steelers' game plan against the Indianapolis Colts earlier this season when they faced QB Daniel Jones, who's enjoying the best season of his career. The Steelers won the game by holding league-leading rusher Jonathan Taylor to a season-low 45 yards on 14 carries.
Taylor still leads the NFL in rushing, as one of only two backs with over 1,000 yards. The other is Bills running back James Cook, who's second in the NFL with 1,084 yards at 5.4 yards per carry.
Cook is the Steelers' primary objective.
"He's really good," Austin said. "He's really explosive, he's smooth, he's got really good vision. You watch him make guys miss right in the hole that have clean shots; it's impressive. So, I can see why he's rushing the way he does and has as many yards as he does, and they're relying on him more because I think that makes the quarterback's job easier. It allows them to open up some of their play-action pass game and all those different things. The way he's been running and the things he does for their offense is, I think, really, really big."
Allen, of course, needs no introduction to Steelers fans. The 6-5, 237-pound Ben Roethlisberger-esque QB is enjoying one of his best seasons. He's second in the NFL in completion percentage, third in yards per attempt, and fourth in passer rating. His kryptonite, as for most NFL passers, is a strong pass rush. The Houston Texans sacked Allen eight times in beating the Bills last week.
"They really got after him," Austin said. "When you watch the game, the Texans did a really good job … they controlled it overall. They were able to keep him in the pocket. They really collapsed the pocket a lot of times, and then when he did step up, they were able to really chase him down. They did a really good job that way. That's the kind of effort we're going to have to have if we want to have some success."
Looking back at Bears
The Steelers outgained the Bears, had more first downs, converted a higher percentage of third downs, had one more sack, fewer penalties/yardage, more time of possession, and were tied in turnovers. But the Bears won by a field goal, in part due to the timing of their big plays. Their plan of passing against the Steelers' run-stopping alignment and running against their pass-down alignment crossed up the Steelers at key moments.
"They were pretty good at that," Austin said. "Obviously we put Malik (Harrison) in there in terms of the run game, and sometimes that's going to happen. We play some three-deeps with some play-action pass and the linebackers, it's going to cause them some run/pass conflicts in that situation. So, they did a good job of taking advantage.
"I would love to be in the right call all the time, but that doesn't happen. And so sometimes we just got to live with it. And really the biggest thing is when we do have opportunities to stand up, we've got to stand up, because we're not going to stop everything. When we do get them behind the sticks and get them behind the chains, we've got to be able to get off the field and do those things."
More chunk to plays
The Steelers' longest play Sunday against the Bears was a 55-yard run by Kenneth Gainwell out of the fourth-and-1 "tush push" formation. The next longest was a 21-yard reception by Ben Skowronek in the first quarter.
Other than that, the Steelers didn't have another gain of 20 yards or longer.
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith brushed aside media criticism that the avoidance of the middle of the field played a role in the lack of Steelers "chunk" plays.
"When I was in Tennessee, we were one of the more explosive chunk-play (teams) and it was always asked, 'Why do you guys never throw the ball outside?'" said Smith. "There are so many layers to those kinds of questions, because our backs have been so productive underneath coverage (and) Darnell (Washington) has, as you've already seen, and just shallow routes that are underneath the people dropping heavy into it. To get in a game like last week, one of the more efficient run games we've had, you know, every game tells a different story. ... We had more yards, more time of possession, way more run production, but the problem is we turned the ball over twice.
"We certainly took our chances down the field. We didn't hit them. We'll just keep working. That's why we coach."
