It’s often been said that your best ability is your availability, and in the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the lack of availability of some of their notable contributors on both sides of the football could affect this football team down the road.
With LB Kwon Alexander put on the shelf with a season-ending Achilles injury, Pittsburgh adds another prominent starter to the list of its walking wounded. The Steelers have managed to withstand the losses of WR Diontae Johnson and DL Cameron Heyward to IR earlier in the year, having seen both since return to the lineup after recovering from their respective ailments. However, they still are awaiting the return of TE Pat Freiermuth, DL Montravius Adams, and S Minkah Fitzpatrick to the starting lineup as all three are currently on the mend, having missed some form of game action.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin said during his weekly press conference that he “feels good” about Freiermuth and his potential availability this Sunday on the road against the Cleveland Browns, hopefully providing a big boost to a tight end room that has been sorely missing his production as a pass catcher. Tomlin also left the light on for Fitzpatrick, Adams, and S Keanu Neal, who left last Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with a rib injury to all play this coming weekend.
Despite having so many guys nicked up, placed on short-term IR or ruled out for the season, the Steelers currently sit with a 6-3 record. It’s truly remarkable that a team that ranks near the bottom in yards gained and yards allowed in the league is squarely in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot, especially when factoring the injuries this team has sustained to some of its notable players. Every team must overcome injuries, however, just like the Baltimore Ravens, who boast a 7-3 mark despite suffering an onslaught of injuries to prominent players like they seem to every season.
In the case of Pittsburgh, though, one must wonder if the team’s luck will hold up going forward while missing several key contributors, especially at inside linebacker. Holcomb and Alexander were the team’s two true three-down linebackers, having the skill set to play against the run as well as drop into coverage. LB Elandon Roberts was thrust into that role last weekend against Green Bay, and the results were a mixed bag. He held his own and made heady plays but visibly lacked the speed and coverage skills to hold up effectively on a down-to-down basis.
It raises a similar situation to when Pittsburgh lost LB Ryan Shazier to a career-ending neck injury in 2017, forcing the team to come up with potential options to fill his role, which no one player could do. After Shazier went down, Pittsburgh was rolling with fellow starter Vince Williams, who is a similar player in many ways to Roberts, as well as LBs Tyler Matakevich and L.J. Fort as well as Sean Spence, whom Pittsburgh had signed to start in place of Shazier. The results did not yield great dividends. The Steelers lacked that coverage defender with good open-field speed, getting gashed on the ground by opposing offenses without their stud linebacker in the lineup.
Alexander and Holcomb aren’t on Shazier’s level, but their loss presents a similar scenario for Pittsburgh’s rush defense, which ranked 25th in football when they were in the lineup. Sure, the team has Roberts and LB Mark Robinson who are classic downhill thumpers, but neither has that natural feel for being a sideline-to-sideline player who can hold his own in coverage, like Alexander and Holcomb could. Pittsburgh also has Tariq Carpenter as well as Mykal Walker on the practice squad– both will likely get promoted to the active roster — but their ability to replace the play of the two established veterans has yet to be seen.
Pittsburgh sits in a nice spot, having weathered the injury storm well through the first half of the season. The question remains though if the Steelers can make it out of the storm as they prepare to shake the boat, testing their fortitude to overcome adversity starting with the run-heavy Cleveland Browns this Sunday.
