The Pittsburgh Steelers need a win this week to keep their hopes for this season alive, and they have no excuse not to get one against a very injured Broncos team.
The isn’t the first time the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a rough start to a football season, but things aren’t looking good as we enter Week 5. In the past Pittsburgh has still looked promising despite early-season losses, and we could chalk up the result to poor decision-making and shaking off the rust.
Unfortunately, this year’s poor start looks completely different. Ben Roethlisberger is no longer a rusty hinge that needs a little bit of oil to work like a charm again, he’s a rusted-out old pickup truck that you hope can get you from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ in one piece.
Through the first four games of the season, it’s been incredibly disheartening watching a Steelers offense that looks completely defeated. It’s even worse knowing that we shouldn’t expect things to get much better this year.
Luckily for Mike Tomlin, his team gets a very favorable matchup this week against a depleted Denver Broncos team that has already sent a whopping 10 players to injured reserve this year. This isn’t only a game that Pittsburgh must win, it’s one they should win.
Steelers have no excuse vs Broncos
The Broncos aren’t just going to be without a bunch of no-name, backup players this week. One of the league’s most injured teams has lost some pivotal players in the early going. Among the names who won’t be suiting up vs the Steelers are EDGE Bradley Chubb, WR Jerry Jeudy, CB Ronald Darby, LB Josey Jewell, and WR KJ Hamler.
In addition to already having 10 players on IR, Denver had an additional 11 players show up on this week’s injury report. These include a mixture of backups and starters, and it’s possible that CB Patrick Surtain and RB Melvin Gordon could be limited or even unavailable this week.
However, the injury with the biggest implications on this game is Teddy Bridgewater. The former Panthers quarterback has had a very respectable start to his 2021 season — throwing 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions for 8.0 yards per attempt and an eye-popping 110.6 passer rating. He has done this without the help of some of his best players.
After suffering a concussion last week, Bridgewater missed Wednesday’s practice and was only a limited participant on Thursday. While it’s looking like he will suit up on Sunday, Bridgewater will only log one full practice with his team before he’s forced to face Pittsburgh’s defense on the road.
The Steelers have a few injuries of their own, as four players missed practice early in the week. However, Pittsburgh will have most of its key players available for this game.
With how much is riding on this Week 5 contest, Tomlin knows what it would mean for his team to drop to 1-4 on the season. I expect Pittsburgh to take care of business in a game they have no excuse not to win this week.