After Minkah Fitzpatrick exited the Pittsburgh Steelers win over the Cleveland Browns in the third quarter on Monday Night Football, it was up to Elijah Riley, Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee to step up and hold down the safety spots. The trio did well, with Riley notching a key third-down sack on Deshaun Watson on what ended up being Cleveland’s final drive. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin praised the trio in his press conference on Thursday.
“They did. Those guys did a great job. I think our guys do a great job in terms of staying prepared, staying ready, being the next man up so we don’t miss a beat. I think that was pretty evident. Obviously, you’re not going to replace Minkah in terms of what he brings to the team, but those guys did a fine job in terms of coming in, making the plays they had to make, and helping us get out of the stadium with a victory,” Austin said via transcript provided by the team.
The Steelers did a good job of shutting down Deshaun Watson for most of the night, and even with their most lethal secondary weapon in Fitzpatrick sidelined, the Browns couldn’t get much of anything going. Cleveland didn’t score after Fitzpatrick exited the game, and Riley’s sack prevented Watson from continuing to extend the play and potentially scrambling for a first down.
It was a solid group effort, and while T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith have and should gotten a lot of the credit, the safety trio did a good job preventing the Browns from getting anything over the top and making plays downhill.
Kazee finished with six solo tackles, while Neal had six tackles, four solo, and a pass defensed. Riley just registered the sack, but it was a huge play in the game and one that could’ve been the difference between the Steelers winning and losing.
As Austin said, there’s no way to truly replicate what Fitzpatrick brings to the Steelers. But being able to withstand his loss is a testament to the defense and particularly the safety group, who embraced the next man-up mentality to help the Steelers improve to 1-1. A home loss to a division rival would’ve been a major setback for this Steelers team, and getting the win over Cleveland should provide some momentum with the Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans up over the next two weeks.
