When the Steelers hosted the Cleveland Browns in Week 14, the biggest storylines circled around Pittsburgh's revenge game and T.J. Watt versus Myles Garrett in this AFC North showdown. The first time around, Garrett outshined Watt as the Browns sealed a victory on Thursday Night Football.
Pittsburgh's offense struggled, but even without the presence of George Pickens, it wasn't surprising to see the Steelers emerge victorious. Mike Tomlin's team was 9-3 hosting a 3-9 opponent that hadn't won a regular season game in Pittsburgh in 21 years.
But considering what the Steelers had working against them, it's shocking the defense played as well as it did.
Lost in the storylines for Steelers vs. Browns was the fact that Pittsburgh was decimated along the interior defensive line. With Montravius Adams still out and Dean Lowry inactive, Pittsburgh had just four healthy interior defenders entering this Week 14 contest. That number quickly dropped to just three when Larry Ogunjobi suffered an injury and was ruled out of the game.
Quietly, Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, and Isaiahh Loudermilk were the three remaining defensive linemen who were forced to carry the load... and they delivered.
Steelers' DL overcame a daunting uphill battle vs. Browns
Even with a severe lack of depth on the interior defensive line, the Steelers were able to hold the Browns to just seven points scored through the first three quarters of the game. Though Cleveland would go on to cap off another scoring drive in the fourth quarter, this came when the game was out of reach when the Steelers held a 27-7 lead.
Heyward, Benton, and Loudermilk did their part in containing Cleveland's rushing attack to 104 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Heyward came up with two big sacks on quarterback Jameis Winston while Benton made the play of the game with an interception on a screen pass (which the Steelers quickly turned into a touchdown after the takeaway).
There aren't many defenses out there that could function with just three interior defenders, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are one of them. This was a great sign. Let's hope their defensive line gets back to full strength soon.