The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night in a Divisional Round playoff game and based on the team’s Friday injury report, it looks like several players will miss that contest as unhealthy scratches. The list of seven inactive players this week will likely include at least three healthy scratches and below is my prediction of what head coach Mike Tomlin is likely to turn in ahead of the game kicking off.
Game inactives are officially announced 90 minutes before kickoff, so make sure you check back at that time to see the names of the players for both teams who will be sitting the game out.
Zach Mettenberger – Mettenberger will once again be inactive on Sunday due to him being the No. 3 quarterback. The last time he dressed was in Week 17 when starter Ben Roethlisberger was held out of that finale as a precaution.
Brian Mihalik – Like Mettenberger, Mihalik is another player who is easy to predict to be down against the Chiefs on Sunday as the Steelers only need to dress seven offensive linemen.
Anthony Chickillo – After failing to practice all week due to an ankle injury, Chickillo was ruled out for Sunday’s game by the Steelers on their Friday injury report. This will be the second straight game that he’s missed due to his injury.
Ladarius Green – While Green was officially listed as doubtful on the Steelers Friday injury report, he’s likely to miss yet another game as he failed to practice all week due to the concussion that he suffered back in Week 15. Green hasn’t practiced since a week ago Thursday.
Fitzgerald Toussaint – While Toussaint ended the week listed as questionable, he was only able to practice on a limited basis twice this past week. The running back suffered a concussion last Sunday in the Wild Card game and was placed in protocol because of it. If Toussaint is inactive against the Chiefs, cornerback Justin Gilbert is expected to take his place as a deep returner on the kickoff team.
Ricardo Mathews – Like Toussaint, Mathews was also listed as questionable on the Steelers Friday injury report after practicing on a limited basis earlier in the day. Like Chickillo, Mathews is still dealing with an ankle injury that forced him to miss the Wild Card game last weekend.
Al-Hajj Shabazz – Should Toussaint indeed sit Sunday and Gilbert dresses, there’s a good chance that Shabazz might be a healthy scratch and especially being as it looks like safety Robert Golden will return this weekend from the ankle injury that sidelined him the last few weeks.
