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When the Kansas City Chiefs traded for Orlando Brown Jr. in the offseason it proved that the team was all-in on their vision of rebuilding their offensive line after an embarrassing loss in Super Bowl LV. They replaced all five starters on the line in a few short months, and have seen the unit blossom over the course of their 2021 NFL season.
All the Chiefs need to do now is finish, and perform against the Steelers in Week 16 to defend their spot as the top team in the AFC. Kansas City will rely on any edge they can find to pull out a win by any means necessary, and as it turns out, Brown gained a ton of experience against the Pittsburgh Steelers when he played in the AFC North as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. On Wednesday, he gave reporters some intel about what it takes to beat the storied Pittsburgh franchise during the Chiefs’ media availability after practice.
“The most important part when facing the Pittsburgh Steelers is being able to win your one-on-one,” Brown said. “That’s what they pride themselves on as a defensive line, and that’s what they do really well. That’s why they’re always very high sack numbers. It’s one-on-ones practically the whole game, run and pass, and so, that’s something as an offensive line that you make sure you take care of on game day.”
While Steelers star edge rusher T.J. Watt will face whoever plays right tackle for the Chiefs on Sunday, Brown is all too familiar with him from his time in Baltimore. He’s someone that Kansas City will need to work hard to neutralize in Week 16.
“He’s an incredible player man,” Brown said. “T.J. [Watt] is definitely one of the best. In my opinion, he should have been defensive player of the year for the last two years, but Aaron Donald does what he does too. T.J.’s an amazing player. He plays with an effort unknown to mankind. He’s very skilled at what he does, very precise with the way that he attacks your hands and has a really good feel for the game of football. He’s somebody that very rarely are you able to keep him off a stat sheet. That’s not going to happen. Like you said, I played him my first few years in the NFL and he’s an amazing player.”
Dominance up front has been characteristic of Kansas City’s play on their seven-game win streak that has put a target on their back as the team to beat before January. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is sure to have a plan in place to mitigate the Chiefs’ ability to impose their will on his team. He will need his defense to pull some serious weight both on the line and in the secondary to keep Kansas City from putting on the type of performance they’ve managed against much more accomplished competition this season.
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