Browns Coach Sends Direct Warning To Steelers' Jaylen Warren And Rico Dowdle

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a huge game coming up in Week 8. The winner of their game against the Cleveland Browns will have total control of the AFC North through the midway point of the season. When they met up in Week 4 in Cleveland, Pittsburgh went into a 21-3 deficit early on. They attempted to make a comeback, but it was too little too late as the Browns were able to march downfield for a go-ahead field goal with barely any time left on the clock. Things are hopefully different now for the Black and Gold.

One key difference has been the emergence of Jaylen Warren in recent weeks. His hard-nosed running ability has helped him become a household name in the NFL. Rico Dowdle has also come back from injury and has had some nice moments of his own. This run game has become the reason that this offense succeeds and moves down the field, and opposing defenses have struggled to figure out a way to stop it.

The Browns think they have it figured out now. During a recent press conference, linebackers coach Jason Tarver gave his keys to shutting down Pittsburgh's electric attack.

"Both those backs, they run hard," Tarver said. "You're watching them and their feet drive.  So, what we got to do is we got to get as many people to them and you can't run without your feet.  So, we got to get to them – and this is obviously easier said than done – and get their cleats out of the ground and be on the correct angles."

The defensive coach was also complimentary of the Steelers' offensive line. He did note, though, that his group will be prepared to stop Pittsburgh's ball carriers from having success.

"They work well together up front to push and pull to get the back started.  And so, we got to be in our both whatever call we're in, attacking that and making sure we're using our hands so that we can get the angles that we need to get those two. They do a great job of how they use them and both of them run very, very hard."

Tarver is trying to teach his run defense to tackle the feet of the running backs, as opposed to going for the body tackles. Both Warren and Dowdle have shown the ability to run through opposing defenders, so getting in their way and wrapping them up isn't always the best solution. If the Browns can take out their feet, maybe one of the scariest runners in the league will finally get slowed down to a more normal level.

That is a lot easier said than done, though. If the Browns only go for Warren's feet, he will hurdle the diving defenders. Despite him being one of the shortest players in the NFL, he has shown a willingness to try and jump over anyone that stands in front of him. That strategy may work better on Dowdle, who is more of a downhill runner that doesn't use any sort of fancy moves to get extra yards.

Steelers' Schematics Will Likely Neutralize Tarver's Plan

In Week 7, the Steelers brought back their ultra-jumbo set, which opens up more rushing lanes for the running backs. Opposing defenses have not been able to figure out how to slow that down going back to 2025, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Pittsburgh keep spamming that scheme throughout the contest. As basic and simple as it is, the offense shouldn't stop using it until anyone can find a way to stop it. 

It's going to be hard for Tarver's unit to get those angles when they keep getting outflanked by the oversized offensive personnel group. One person trying to take out Warren's legs on these outside zone reads most likely won't be enough. Instead of trying to just drive at ankle, the Browns should be trying to work out a way to plug up these extra gaps and not let these running backs get past the line of scrimmage.

What do you think about Tarver's plan to stop the Steelers' run game? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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