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Tomlin: 4 things you must know at Browns

  1. Troy being Troy: It's something those who watch the Steelers have become accustomed to, seeing Troy Polamalu leap over the line and try to beat the snap count to make a crucial stop. It's worked at times, but at times he has been called for an offside penalty, which was the case against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. But even with the penalty, Coach Mike Tomlin isn't going to ask him to stop because he has seen how effective it can be.

"We have seen him do that so many times positively over the years, fourth down and one, quarterback sneaks stops and things of that nature," said Coach Mike Tomlin, who added that he didn't think Polamalu was offside. "I am going to just ask him to do it, and do it a little bit better than he has been doing it in terms of staying onsides. It's a function of us, it's something people have to be prepared to deal with, and it's unique. It's something that makes Troy, Troy. I just want him to stay onsides." 

  1. Defending the streak: Wide receiver Antonio Brown extended his streak of at least five catches and 50 receiving yards to 21 games against the Jaguars, but how it happened has been a hot topic of conversation. Heading into the Steelers final possession Brown had just four receptions, and with only two minutes to play the offense was likely to just kneel for the final drive. Brown and Ben Roethlisberger spoke about it, and got Tomlin's approval to throw a pass Brown's way, one that resulted in a 16-yard gain before Roethlisberger took a knee on the next three plays to close out the game.

"He's got a significant record that kind of exemplifies what he's doing in his career," said Tomlin. "We want to support him in that. Obviously we don't spend a lot of time thinking about that during the course of a work week or game. It came up during the discussion of the two-minute (drive). We had a low-risk play that had an opportunity to get the ball in his hands and we wanted to assist him in that. I think the guys were just as excited about doing that for him as he was."  3. **

Check out the highlight photos from the Steelers vs Jaguars game.

Arrow pointed up:** Cortez Allen continues to grow at cornerback, racking up two interceptions in the last two games. Tomlin likes what he sees from Allen and veteran William Gay, who has seen more action on the outside since Ike Taylor's injury. 

"Been really solid, particularly for Cortez," said Tomlin of their performance. "His arrow has been pointed up the last couple of weeks. He's touching a lot of balls; he's catching some of them. Will plays a savvy, veteran above the neck game like he usually plays. I don't want to underscore his contribution. He is playing outside a heck of a lot more since Ike Taylor has gone down. He is a solid interior player, but he has proven again that he is a quality solid guy outside as well."

Taking responsibility: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked nine times in the last two games, and following Sunday's win over Jacksonville Roethlisberger took the blame for the majority of the four sacks in that game. Tomlin said it's a mix that has created the problem, and there is no finger pointing as to whose fault it is.  

"It's a myriad of all of those things, but make no mistake we don't assign blame, we take responsibility," said Tomlin. "It's our job to keep the quarterback upright. Over the last two games we haven't done a good job of it."

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