Steelers Need To Unleash Health In December

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor will be inactive on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers due to a fractured fright ankle that he suffered early in the win last week against the Baltimore Ravens. According to the Steelers pre game release, Taylor will become the 19th different player to miss a game with an injury this season.

The list of the 18 other players, which you can see below, also includes rookie linebacker Sean Spence, second-year linebacker Chris Carter, and second-year tackle Marcus Gilbert, all of whom have been placed on the injured reserve this season.

The loss of Taylor is indeed big, but it does appear that the Steelers roster is slowly moving back to a healthier one now with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leading the charge. Roethlisberger will start Sunday after missing the last 3 games with a shoulder and rib injury suffered back in Week 10 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Wide receiver Antonio Brown returned last week against the Ravens after missing the last 3 games with a high ankle sprain as did safety Troy Polamalu, who had missed the last 7 games due to a calf injury.

While linebacker LaMarr Woodley and tackle Mike Adams will both miss the game Sunday with ankle injuries, there is a good chance that they both could be ready next week for the game against the Dallas Cowboys. Also closer to full health now are wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery and quarterback Byron Leftwich.

The Steelers enter the game against the Chargers likely needing to win 3 of their last 4 games at the very least in order to make the playoffs. 1 of those 3 wins must come against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16.

To accomplish that feat the Steelers will need to “Unleash Health” in December. Hopefully the string of unfortunate injuries ended last week in Baltimore when Taylor went down as this team just can\’t afford to suffer any more moving forward into this stretch run.

Here is one little tidbit for you heading into the game Sunday. The Steelers defense has only managed to have Woodley, Polamalu, James Harrison, and Ryan Clark together on the field at the same time this season for just 21 plays. Those 21 plays took place in the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles. If things go well Sunday, hopefully we can start that play count again next week against the Cowboys.

Hopefully by unleashing some health in December the Steelers can also release some hell in these final 4 games and put together a playoff run that results in them ending up in New Orleans playing in the Super Bowl.

Here\’s to good health.

2012 Steelers Players With Games Missed Due To Injury