No Larry Ogunjobi. No DeShon Elliott. No Donte Jackson. Early into the game, no Joey Porter Jr. For DL Cam Heyward, there’s no excuse. Regardless who was or wasn’t on the field Saturday evening in Baltimore, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense simply wasn’t good enough in a 34-17 loss.
“Injuries play a part, but the guys that went in have played before,” Heyward said via the team website. “And I’ll never discount what they do. We just didn’t get the job done. Guys step up in different ways. We came in here before and had guys step up in those ways. But we had the, we had enough guys to go.”
Pittsburgh’s five-man inactive list consisted entirely of injured players. Defensively, there were three. SS DeShon Elliott missed his second-straight game with a hamstring injury. CB Donte Jackson missed with a recurring back issue and DL Larry Ogunjobi, despite being limited the final two days of practice, spent the game in street clothes.
“That’s not the reason why we lost,” Heyward said of secondary injuries. “You tip your cap to them. They got the job done.”
In-game, Porter suffered a calf/knee injury (called a calf by the team and knee by Tomlin post-game) and save for one defensive series to open the second half, couldn’t re-enter the game. It left the team with three of their four starters in the secondary out. They were replaced by Damontae Kazee at safety and the duo of James Pierre and Cory Trice Jr. at cornerback. Trice appeared in his first game since injuring his hamstring in Week 3. While he didn’t directly give up any downfield plays, the Ravens certainly went after him and put him in difficult spots.
Still, the front seven was healthy aside from Ogunjobi. And Pittsburgh easily lost the trench battle as RB Derrick Henry set a Ravens’ record for most rushing yards against the Steelers.
Baltimore getting the job done meant securing a playoff spot with today’s win. It also means keeping the door open to win the AFC North. Pittsburgh still has a clear path to win the division, winning their final two games, but their odds of wearing the crown for the first time since 2020 took a big hit today.
While Heyward’s assessment of injuries not being an excuse is fair and expected from leadership, getting healthy will go a long way to the Steelers returning to the win column. Unfortunately, with their next game being played in four days, there isn’t much time for bodies to heal. And the Chiefs won’t spend any time feeling sorry for them.
