The Steelers have plenty of familiarity with the Baltimore Ravens, their opponent in their regular season finale Saturday at M&T Bank Field.
Now, after a few weeks of piecing things together with a patchwork defense, they now have some familiarity with their own players, as well.
That could come in handy as the Steelers (9-7) head to Baltimore (13-3) in a game they need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
"We're getting there," said Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. "The biggest thing I like about our guys is that we have some guys doing some new things, some new guys in there and they're just working their tail off to try to get better and help us win a game. And we've been doing that, and so we'll just continue to try to get better. You're right, we have a little bit better idea of who they are, what they can do."
Because of injuries at inside linebacker and safety, the Steelers have had to make some major adjustments in their lineup.
The past two weeks, that has meant that cornerback Patrick Peterson has moved to free safety in place of injured Minkah Fitzpatrick, while veteran Eric Rowe, signed to the practice squad in late November, has started next to him at strong safety due to the suspension of Damontae Kazee for the remainder of the regular season and an injury to Keanu Neal.
At linebacker, with Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander having suffered season-ending injuries and Elandon Roberts out last week against the Seahawks, the Steelers went with a rotation of Myles Jack, Mark Robinson and Mykal Walker. Jack, who like Rowe didn't sign with the team until late November, played all 49 defensive snaps, making he and Peterson the only defensive players to do so.
The Steelers even mixed in special teams captain Miles Killebrew for 16 defensive snaps as a dime linebacker, as 21 different players saw snaps on defense.
With the defense missing so many regular pieces to the puzzle, it hasn't hurt that the offense has picked up its pace, as the Steelers have scored 64 points in their past two games, a pair of wins over the Bengals and Seahawks.
The Steelers allowed just 11 points in the win over the Bengals, but gave up 23 in last Saturday's victory against Seattle. But that included limiting the Seahawks to three field goals in the second half.
Austin hasn't necessarily changed what he's asked of the defense – or his expectations.
"We call the game. I tried to call the game the same way as always, which is to try to not let these guys score," Austin said. "So, our offense is scoring well. We're doing some things as well, that really helps. It really helps. But as far as how I call it a game, I'm going to call it the way I see it the way I think is best for us to try to succeed."
Though the Steelers have the familiarity with the Ravens, having played them already once this season and at least twice per year before this as an AFC North opponent, this particular trip to Baltimore could be a little different.
With the Ravens already having clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, they could have a number of starters sit this game out to rest for the postseason.
That would certainly include quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is the current favorite to win the NFL MVP award for a second time in his career.
•Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
The Steelers already faced Jackson and the Ravens once, back in Week 5, coming away with a 17-10 victory in what was easily Baltimore's worst offensive output of the season.
The Ravens have scored at least 19 points in each of their other games this season and posted 56 points in a win last week against Miami.
Because of that, Austin isn't necessarily concerned about who will be playing for Baltimore as much as he is just defending the scheme under first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
"We prep for the system," Austin said. "And we prep thinking they're going to play their guys. I mean, that's how you have to do it. You have to approach everything like normal and then we go from there."
