The Pittsburgh Steelers have qualified for the playoffs after a tumultuous season, but many are already writing off their chances on the road against the Buffalo Bills. Both teams are riding winning streaks that were every bit necessary to get qualify, but the Bills have a superstar quarterback and more pedigree behind their organization at the moment. Oddsmakers have the Bills favored by 10 points. Some of that has to do with injuries that the Steelers have suffered both recently and throughout the season as a whole.
Most recently, former NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt suffered an MCL injury that already knocked him out of the first game of the playoffs. That is a significant blow to the Steelers, who are losing one of their leaders on and off the field. Former Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, appearing on The Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports Tuesday afternoon, discussed the Steelers’ upcoming matchup among other topics.
“Obviously I’m a Steelers fan,” Polamalu said. “What I’m excited to see from the Pittsburgh Steelers is obviously we don’t have T.J. Watt. We’ve been having our injury problem, but to me, our program’s always been bigger than names. For us to be able to go into a place like Buffalo and win would say a lot about moving forward, and how we’re building our culture internally.”
He is of course referring to the “next-man-up” mantra that head coach Mike Tomlin has preached throughout his head-coaching tenure. That has been put to the test this season. In no particular order, here are the significant names that have missed time due to injury or other circumstances.
-OLB T.J. Watt
-DT Cameron Heyward
-S Minkah Fitzpatrick
-S Damontae Kazee
-S Keanu Neal
-ILB Cole Holcomb
-ILB Kwon Alexander
-ILB Elandon Roberts
-TE Pat Freiermuth
-QB Kenny Pickett
-DT Montravius Adams
-WR Diontae Johnson
That isn’t an exhaustive list, but it gives you a good idea of the type of attrition the Steelers have been dealing with. Over the three-game winning streak to end the season, the Steelers were without their top three inside linebackers and their top five safeties. CB Patrick Peterson had to move to safety, and the Steelers brought in guys from retirement or free agency who hadn’t played a snap in the 2023 to play significant roles for them. Coming off the three-game losing streak, the injuries seemed like an insurmountable obstacle for the team, but they got great play from guys like S Eric Rowe and ILB Myles Jack during their push to the playoffs. They truly were “bigger than names.”
Watt’s injury will just be the latest to overcome and fortunately the Steelers are well-equipped at the position to handle it. OLB Markus Golden hasn’t played a very large role this year, but people forget he is a nine-year NFL veteran and has reached the 10-plus sack mark three times in his career. They also have rookie OLB Nick Herbig, who has made large contributions in limited opportunities.
