Steelers' Defense Has Tough Task of Stopping Bills' Allen, Cook

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward refers to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen as "Superman."

That isn't a lot of hyperbole on Heyward's part. The 6-foot-5, 237-pound Allen might be the most gifted QB in the NFL, with his size, strength, and speed, and can beat defenses both passing and running. Of course, Allen was the NFL MVP last season.

However, Allen struggled in the Bills' last game, a 23-19 loss to the Texans on Nov. 20 in Houston. He completed 24 of 34 passes for 265 yards and no touchdowns while being intercepted twice and sacked eight times.

Not surprisingly, the Steelers (6-5) want to turn up the pass rush on Sunday when the Bills (7-4) visit Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers are fifth in the league with 34 sacks, including a team-high seven by outside linebacker T.J. Watt and 6 ½ from outside linebacker Nick Herbig.

"They really got after him," Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said of the Texans. "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."

However, stopping Allen isn't the Steelers' only concern on defense. Bills running back James Cook is second in the NFL with 1,084 rushing yards and is averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

The only other running back over 1,000 yards is the Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor. The Steelers, though, held Taylor to a season-low 45 yards on 14 carries in a win on Nov. 2. The Steelers could use that type of effort against Cook.

"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."

Containing both Allen and Cook will be a big challenge for the Steelers, who are 15th in the league in rushing defense but 28th in total defense and 32nd and last in total defense.