The Pittsburgh Steelers defense got run over on Sunday despite facing a quarterback with no picture available on Pro Football Reference. All the Baltimore Ravens had to do was run the football time and time again.

J.K. Dobbins averaged eight yards per rush attempt in 15 carries for a total of 120 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Gus Edwards also had a solid performance averaging 5.1 yards per carry for 66 more on the ground.

Both Ravens' running backs combined for four explosive runs (10+ yards). It was a war of attrition and the Steelers lost consistently.

"I thought they won the war of attrition as the game wore on," Steelers HC Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday.

"I thought the pile fell in the direction that (the Ravens) desired. So, what could be second-and-eight was second-and-six. You do that consecutively, what could be third-and-four is third-and-two, and those downs are played out differently in the National Football League."

Tomlin's words are perfectly illustrated by the fact that out of those 188 combined yards by Dobbins and Edwards, 96 came after contact. In a rivalry that's frequently sold as a violent slugfest, the Steelers weren't the most physical team on the field.

Of course, it's only one game we're talking about here. But the Steelers know they have little time to turn it around as a very similar challenge quickly approaches.

"We’re very much going to be in that style of game again this week with the way Carolina is playing," said Tomlin about the upcoming showdown against the Panthers. "So, we’ve got some schematic work ahead of us, and we’ve got some physical work ahead of us."

To paint a picture of just how run-heavy the Panthers want to be, they call their jumbo set (sometimes featuring as many as EIGHT offensive linemen on the field) the "Arby's Package."

Brady Christensen says Panthers call their jumbo set "Arby's," as in "We have the meats."

Christensen — on the eight OL that were on the field for one snap Sunday — adds: "That's a lot of meat out there."

— Joe Person (@josephperson) December 12, 2022

"Across the board, we have really adopted and accepted the mindset and culture we want upfront, which is really that blue-collar mentality, smash-mouth football running the ball," said Panthers HC Steven Wilks said on Monday.

Over the season, the Steelers have the ninth-best defense in rush yards per attempt allowed (4.2). But over the last three games, they rank as the eighth-worst run defense as that number has gone up to 5 full yards.

Getting back on track will be even harder for Pittsburgh after losing DT Chris Wormley but they signed DT Jonathan Marshall off of the New York Jets practice squad to contribute.

However, the Steelers' run defense will likely have to be solved by other players like Larry Ogunjobi, and Cam Heyward, among others stepping up.

Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports