Over the last three weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had to patch things together on the back end of their defense without the likes of star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and veteran safety Damontae Kazee.
Fitzpatrick missed the last three weeks of the regular season with a knee injury suffered in the Week 15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, while Kazee missed the final three weeks of the season serving a suspension for a hit on Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. one play before Fitzpatrick got hurt.
In their place, the Steelers turned to veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson to play meaningful snaps at safety, and elevated veteran safety Eric Rowe from the practice squad. Those moves paid off in a big way as the two veterans played well in their new roles and helped the Steelers win the final three games of the season and ultimately get into the playoffs.
Now though, Fitzpatrick and Kazee are set to return to action. How the Steelers will fit the two back into the lineup remains to be seen sit creates a bit of a logjam in the secondary for a group playing quite well down the stretch.
That’s a good problem to have for Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin though.
“Their performances have been even more remarkable. We’re thankful for that. But we’re also thankful for the return of guys like Minkah and like Kazee,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “And so, if it creates a long a logjam in terms of talent or people available to us, then that is a good problem to have.
“It’s a better problem to have than some of the issues that we’ve had in terms of trying to figure out who and how to play. And so, we’ll sort through some of those things, man, as we’re game planning.”
As Tomlin stated, the return of Fitzpatrick and Kazee creating a potential logjam in the secondary is a good problem to have. In recent weeks, with Fitzpatrick and Kazee out of the lineup, not to mention Trenton Thompson (who had some good reps for the Steelers), Pittsburgh had to patchwork things together and hold up on the back end.
Rowe was quite the find for the Steelers, becoming a major impact player while generating a couple of turnovers with an interception and a forced fumble in the final three weeks of the season. Teammates have spoken highly of him, as has Tomlin in recent weeks.
Peterson, making the move to safety, had his moments of struggles but overall handled the role well, which allowed the Steelers to continue to do different things on the back end.
But the return of Fitzpatrick and Kazee couldn’t come at a better time, especially with star outside linebacker T.J. Watt out for at least the Wild Card round. Having that depth and experience on the back end could allow Tomlin and the Steelers to throw a bunch of different looks at the Bills’ offense and quarterback Josh Allen in an attempt to confuse him and force turnovers, which would give the Steelers a real chance at the upset.
We’ll see what the Steelers ultimately decide to do in the secondary this week with key pieces back. It’s a great spot to be in no matter what though. You can never have too much depth and experience.
