Welcome to Steelers Morning Rush, our new daily short-form podcast with Alan Saunders, giving a longer perspective on a single news topic surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers or the National Football League. Today, it's the suddenly defense-optional AFC North and the blueprint for slowing down Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals played an all-time classic of a Thursday Night Football game before Baltimore's last-minute win, but they played a brand of football that was nearly foreign to longtime viewers of the AFC North: defense-optional. Neither team could get a stop all game, and that portends well for the Steelers' second-ranked NFL defense for being able to shut down their divisional opponents when that portion of the schedule starts in earnest in a week's time. Alan also gave his key matchup for the Steelers' Week 10 game against the Washington Commanders, providing the blueprint for how to slow Jayden Daniels down that no team has been able to execute to this point. Alan breaks it down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices