Instead, the defense has been hit with injuries to high-profile players such as Alualu, Tuitt, star edge rusher T.J. Their best-case scenario heading into 2021 was to hope veterans such as Alualu could stay healthy, minimizing the exposure of backups who were not ready for extended playing time. Yet the Steelers had little choice to throw them into the mix because they had no money to go hunting for quality depth back in the spring. The list of players who saw the field for at least 10 defensive snaps on Sunday included defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux, linebackers Taco Charlton and Derrek Tuszka and cornerbacks Arthur Maulet, Ahkello Witherspoon and James Pierre, none of whom figured to be a significant part of the “division of labor” to borrow a pet phrase of coach Mike Tomlin when Pittsburgh opened camp back in July, if they were even on the roster at all. He was hardly the only Steeler with limited experience thrust into a position they might not have been ready for. With Alualu out for the year and Tuitt still recovering from knee surgery, Loudermilk found himself playing 27 snaps in a pivotal late-November road game against a division rival. Loudermilk was supposed to have a limited role this season if he had one at all. It’s telling of how beat up Pittsburgh’s defensive line is that rookie fifth-round pick Isaiahh Lowdermilk and not injured starters Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu was the one futilely chasing Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to the end zone in the first quarter. Cincinnati ran up 198 yards on the ground. Not if they can’t be competitive along the line of scrimmage, something they weren’t against the Bengals. “There’s a lot of football to be played, but if we do what we did out there today, we won’t win another game,” defensive lineman Cam Heyward said. And the sight of Hilton racing to the end zone for a 24-yard Pick-6 at the end of the first half of what became a 41-10 beatdown at the hands of Cincinnati on Sunday showcased the kind of energy and playmaking the Steelers (5-5-1) are sorely lacking. Injuries, particularly along the defensive line, have exposed an overall lack of quality depth up front on both sides of the ball. Heading into December, that progress looks like a mirage. Roethlisberger and the offense shook off a shaky start - thanks in large part to the rapid development of rookie stars Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth - and the Steelers surged into contention with a four-game winning streak against teams of varying pedigree. It left them with a very narrow path to contention: hope the rookie-laden offense could take some of the pressure off the 39-year-old Roethlisberger to do it all and pray the defense picked up right where it left off in 2020 when it ranked first in sacks and turnovers and third in yards allowed.įor a month, it worked. That included bringing back Ben Roethlisberger on a reduced salary, cutting cornerback Steven Nelson and linebacker Vince Williams (who later returned at a smaller cap hit only to retire at the end of training camp), investing heavily in the draft and searching the waiver wire to fill in the holes.
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