The Buffalo Bills came into the season carrying a mountain of hype, and they haven’t lived up to much of it. They’ve already dropped four games, fallen behind New England in the division, and they don’t look anything like the contender they were expected to be. Still, when you flip on their tape, the same two things jump out every week: Josh Allen and the run game.

And that’s exactly what T.J. Watt tried to hammer home to his teammates.

“You guys hear me preach every week, you’ve got to stop the run first and foremost, and obviously, whenever an offense is able to effectively run the ball, it opens up a lot of things for them. So if we can keep him bottled up as long as possible to hopefully get them in one-dimensional situations, it’ll lead to success for us,” he said.

Buffalo owns the league’s best rushing offense at 147 yards per game. They’re ninth in passing at 235. It’s lopsided, but it explains why defenses feel stretched thin. James Cook has turned into the scariest part of their attack, averaging just under 100 yards per game. And then there’s Allen, who has become almost as dangerous with his legs as his arm. He has 371 rushing yards already.

That creates the second part of the Steelers’ problem. Tackling someone as mobile as Josh Allen would sure be a challenge.

“I mean, no, we can’t tackle right now, so there’s no way you can replicate it in practice or anything like that, but obviously we face quarterback mobility throughout the year. Obviously, he’s a bigger guy, so you need to be able to tackle the football, but also tackle him and not try to rough the quarterback in any way possible,” Watt added.

The good news for Pittsburgh is that the Bills will be without both starting tackles. Dion Dawkins is in the concussion protocol, and Spencer Brown is out with a shoulder injury. Houston took full advantage of that last week, sacking Allen eight times and pushing him off his spot all afternoon. If the Steelers need a blueprint, it’s sitting right there on the Texans’ tape.

But the Steelers defense has faced its own storms lately.

Mike Tomlin’s defense is in crisis

Heading into this season, most of us figured the Steelers’ defense would be the group that kept them afloat. And at times, it has. But when the front office chose to stay quiet at the trade deadline and pass on adding a wide receiver, it became clear the only path forward was a defense that played to its reputation. Instead, it’s been the opposite.

This week’s loss to the Bears was the latest example. Pittsburgh gave up 31 points and 328 yards to a Chicago offense that hadn’t exactly been lighting up the league. Through 12 weeks, they’re allowing 23.9 points per game, Mike Tomlin’s worst defensive mark and the highest number the franchise has surrendered since 1988.

Even Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw cannot believe how poorly his former team is coached.

“They don’t have the team. It takes offense, defense, takes it all, takes coaching,” he said.

And he’s not wrong. T.J. Watt can talk about stopping the run all he wants, but the secondary has its own issues. The pass defense hasn’t looked the same since DeShon Elliott went down with a knee injury in Week 5, and the numbers tell a similar story.

The Steelers sit 31st in passing yards allowed per game (258.7) and 18th in yards per attempt (7.1). Against the run, they’re middle-of-the-pack – 15th in yards allowed and 16th in yards per carry. Against the Bills, they need a performance that looks like the group they thought they were back in September.