Deshaun Watson, the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, may have given the Pittsburgh Steelers useful information on the most recent episode of his podcast, despite the fact that it was an innocent response. The material could even be referred to be bulletin board material by some admirers.

Watson discussed how the Browns have used an additional offensive lineman in the past to keep the Steelers in their base defense on the April 5 edition of QB Unplugged. Watson said that the Browns executed an 18-yard throw on third down at the start of the fourth quarter in Week 2.

Two plays later, Watson completed another ball for 23 yards against the Steelers base defense.

“The biggest thing is get the defense in what we want to get the defense in, and that’s a base defense, especially a team like Pittsburgh,” Watson revealed. “When they’re in base defense, they don’t play too many coverages. It’s very limited on what they’re doing. They kind of very schemed to how they play.

“Once we got this set up, it was great, we had everything we wanted, you just had to run the play and respond.”

Watson’s drive ended without a touchdown for the Browns, but they did gain 54 yards before tight end David Njoku fumbled. 41 of the 54 yards were gained through passing plays that were made against Pittsburgh’s basic defense.

Steelers Need to Adjust Base Defense?

Fans and opposing players accused the Pittsburgh offense under Matt Canada of being too simply time and again. But that’s generally not the reputation of the team’s defense.

At least it wasn’t for a long time under former defensive coordinators Dick LaBeau and Keith Butler. Things have changed a little with new defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.

At various times during 2023, Austin had little choice but to be simplistic with his defensive sets. That’s because the Steelers were dealing with multiple injuries at inside linebacker and safety.