The Pittsburgh Steelers are among the luckiest teams in the NFL this season as far as what happens on the field is concerned, at least in their own games. They’ve also been lucky, this year as in others, in terms of opponent availability, particularly at the quarterback position.
Right at the heart of their schedule, they seem to be catching a number of teams at a bad time, potentially facing backups or new starters due to performance over the next five weeks. And that includes two unexpected changes over the past week.
Their game this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns will now feature rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson after Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury the previous weekend in their win over the Baltimore Ravens.
After that, the Steelers could potentially play a Cincinnati Bengals team minus Joe Burrow, who is dealing with an injury to his wrist that may have been an issue prior to last night’s game against the Ravens. He was seen wearing a brace on his throwing hand on the team’s own social media, the Bengals later deleting that post.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said after the game that he had not been aware of that until it came to light after the fact, noting that his quarterback landed on his wrist earlier in the game and then aggravated it while throwing a short touchdown pass to RB Joe Mixon.
The extended break off a Thursday night game may give him a fighting chance to play against the Steelers, but Burrow could miss some time with this wrist injury, even if it is not a season-ender. The Bengals have already fallen to 5-5 on the season and could soon see their playoff hopes dashed after winning the division two years in a row.
On the reverse side of the injury trend, Pittsburgh’s next opponent outside the division will be the Arizona Cardinals, who just recently activated QB Kyler Murray. He went 19-for-32 in his first game back for 249 yards with one interception, adding a six-yard rushing touchdown, and it was enough to get them just their second win of the year.
Following the western visitors, the Steelers remain home to host the New England Patriots. By that point, Bill Belichick may have already benched QB Mac Jones, who is having a thoroughly disappointing season and who has been pulled multiple times already in favor of Bailey Zappe.
And following that is the Indianapolis Colts, who have already lost first-round rookie starter Anthony Richardson for the season, on the road. Gardner Minshew is their quarterback moving forward, and they are 3-3 in the games he’s started this year, including two wins in a row.
The following game after visiting Indianapolis is the follow-up game against the Bengals, so if Burrow’s injury proves serious, he could even potentially miss that one. Either way you look at it, much of the back half of the Steelers’ schedule is comprised of teams in a crisis at the quarterback position right now.
