But they did so because they had the linebackers, including the underrated Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds, to do so.

And even with Edmunds leaving in free agency last season and Milano injured, the Bills still were atop the NFL in terms of nickel usage. It’s in their DNA.

Teams utilize the nickel so often because the primary offensive package in the league is 11 personnel, which has one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers on the field. If a defense sticks in its base defense against that grouping, the offense will pick it apart by throwing the ball. If it goes to a dime, it’s susceptible to running plays.

Now, the Steelers have a much greater ability to match those formations simply by going nickel.

“I think we do,” said Austin. “With P.Q and Payton because those guys can really run, that gives us an opportunity to maybe stay in nickel in some situations when might not.”

• The Steelers aren’t just faster at linebacker. They’ve got more team speed on the back end, as well.

Cornerback Donte Jackson, acquired in the trade with Carolina for Diontae Johnson, ran in the 4.3s coming out of LSU.

So did Beanie Bishop, currently atop the depth chart at nickel corner. New strong safety DeShon Elliott ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash coming out of Texas a few years ago. But he’s markedly faster than Keanu Neal, who manned the position for a good portion of last season.

“One of the things we talked about is getting faster on the defense, and we always respected Donte Jackson and his play style, his speed, ability to play the ball, his willingness to tackle, the energy he played with, and we saw it as an opportunity,” assistant GM Andy Weidl said of the trade that brought Jackson from Carolina in exchange for Johnson.