The Pittsburgh Steelers have been dealt a rough hand with injuries in the second half of the 2023 NFL season. They’re down two starting inside linebackers in Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander, who suffered season-ending injuries in Weeks Nine and 10, while S Minkah Fitzpatrick played just three games since Week 8 before going down with a knee injury that will sideline him for the Steelers’ Week 15 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. With S Damontae Kazee also suspended for the rest of the regular season and QB Kenny Pickett missing his third-straight game with an ankle injury, the Steelers are short-handed as they fight for their playoff lives against the Bengals.
“You look at our situation, you’re dealt certain cards, but people can’t run away from it. Injuries are a part of the game. Obviously, we’d like to have Kazee out there. You like to have your inside linebackers. But you can’t cry about spoiled milk,” DL Cam Heyward said via TribLive’s Chris Adamski.
Every team in the league is dealing with injuries. The AFC North is down to three backup quarterbacks, with the Baltimore Ravens the only team that’s starting the same guy they did in Week One. Even Baltimore has been dealt a blow with injuries, as TE Mark Andrews went down in Week 11 and will miss the remainder of the regular season and likely longer. The Steelers just haven’t been playing well as of late, and injuries aren’t an excuse as to why.
Plain and simple, the Steelers have to play better, and play with better effort. Their offense has struggled all season, and it doesn’t help when you have guys like WR George Pickens not giving a full effort on every snap. The defense isn’t excused either. That unit got bullied by the Colts on a drive with 13 straight run plays that ended in a field goal that essentially put the game out of reach for the Steelers.
They’d be a better team if they were healthier, but even fully healthy, they were winning games by the skin of their teeth and all their luck from early in the season seems to be catching up to them. Now, they’re in a dire situation where they need to win out to have any real chance of making the playoffs.
The way this team is playing right now, it doesn’t seem like that’s likely to happen.
