The succession of stars with which the Steelers' defense has had to contend in recent weeks has progressed from Saquon Barkley, to Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, to Patrick Mahomes.
It's getting harder, not easier, it seems, particularly with Mahomes and the 14-1 Kansas City Chiefs scheduled to arrive in time for Christmas at Acrisure Stadium on Wednesday.
But defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is more focused on the guys he coaches, specifically on making sure the defensive communication is what it needs to be to allow the Steelers to read and react as necessary whatever they happen to be up against.
That wasn't the case often enough in last Saturday's 34-17 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore.
"We've gotta get it fixed," Austin emphasized today.
Two touchdowns, in particular, seemed attributable to miscommunication on defense as much as they were play-making by the Ravens' offense.
The first was a pass from Jackson to tight end Isaiah Likely on second-and-goal from the Steelers' 9-yard line with 5:57 left in the first quarter that gave Baltimore a 7-0 lead.
The second was a 7-yard throw from Jackson to tight end Mark Andrews on second-and-6 from the Steelers' 7 with 1:53 left in the third quarter that gave the Ravens a 24-17 advantage.
Both players on the receiving end of Jackson's passes in those instances were unencumbered by coverage.
"You solve a lot more problems with really good communication," Austin stressed.
One of the challenges this week will be to iron out the communication issues that resurfaced against the Ravens within the preparation limitations of a short week.
"The way we'll try to solve it is with the walk-throughs," Austin said. "Even though they're not going to be high intensity we should hear everything that's going on, we should be really demonstrative in how we communicate, in what we say and what we do, be really intentional in that regard to make it stick. That's really gotta be our focus."
The current communication issues aren't foreign to the Steelers, nor are they anything Austin doesn't think can and will be resolved.
"Earlier in the season, we had an issue a couple times with some communication and our guys got right back on the job," he said. "But it's like everything, you're always working to fix some problems because you always have problems. This just showed up last week so we have to get it fixed. I'm pretty sure our guys will do it.
"We're not a gimmick or a bunch-of-guys-in-a-lot-of-different-spots type defense. The things that we do are very sound. We have our own wrinkles and we have our own communication, how we do it. Sometimes we don't fit up to what we gotta do and we gotta get it fixed and that's what we're in the process of right now."
