The Steelers suffered some terrible news following Sunday night. Stephon Tuitt will miss the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
Has there been a team that has suffered more misfortune to start the season than the Pittsburgh Steelers? Originally, I would have said the Colts had the worst luck after losing their franchise quarterback to retirement. But since then, the award for the trainwreck of problems goes to the Steelers.
Pittsburgh was down to their fourth-string quarterback from August. They traded away Josh Dobbs to Jacksonville, then discovered that Ben Roethlisberger had a serious elbow injury that would cost him his season. Backup quarterback, Mason Rudolph was concussed against the Ravens, and now undrafted rookie, Devlin Hodges, was forced to step in.
Unfortunately, it’s not just the quarterback situation that is in shambles. Defensive tackle, Stephon Tuitt, will miss the remainder of the 2019 season with a torn pectoral muscle.
#BREAKING: Stephon Tuitt is reportedly out for the year with a pectoral injury. https://t.co/EE5AXfJucz
— KDKA (@KDKA) October 14, 2019
This is devastating news for Pittsburgh. After earning a sizable contract a few years back, the Steelers were waiting for Tuitt to return to full health and have a breakout season. He was doing exactly that for the first six games this year.
Stephon Tuitt was arguably the best player in a Steelers uniform through more than a quarter of the 2019 season. He was constantly causing havoc in the backfield and putting opposing quarterbacks on the ground. Tuitt was the 6th highest graded defensive lineman prior to his injury last week, as he posted a Pro Football Focus grade of 89.4 prior to his injury.
Outside of their top three defensive linemen, Pittsburgh is weak at the position. In the wake of Tuitt’s injury, the Steelers have resigned L.T. Walton. However, Tyson Alualu and Javon Hargrave stand to see the most significant uptick in defensive snaps.
Things were finally looking up for the Steelers after a promising win over the Los Angeles Chargers on the road. Pittsburgh has just over $4 million in cap space, so making a move for a defensive lineman is not out of the question.
The Steelers could still have one of the better defenses in the league, but Stephon Tuitt was a player they could ill afford to lose. Let’s hope they can overcome his absence and continue to trend in the right direction.