Steelers can’t use absences as an excuse against a depleted Ravens team

The Pittsburgh Steelers could be without a handful of key contributors, but here’s why Mike Tomlin’s team can’t use this as an excuse against the Ravens. 

After a rough streak during the month of November, the injury and illness bugs are choosing the wrong time to bite the Steelers. Over the past month, Pittsburgh was forced to play games without some of their most valuable players like Ben Roethlisberger, T.J. Watt, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, and many others who found themselves on the sideline or left at home.

This week, things aren’t looking any better. Leading up to a must-win game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers were recently forced to place their best player, T.J. Watt, on the COVID list, along with OT Joe Haeg LB Robert Spillane. Fortunately, it was announced Saturday morning that Watt was activated and will be cleared to play.

In addition to Watt missing yet another week of practice, Pittsburgh had eight players pop up on the injury report this week — including Pat Freiermuth (concussion), Chase Claypool (toe), and Zach Banner (Illness). They will have a number of banged-up players who will give it a go this week, but the Steelers will be without CB Joe Haden and DT Isaiah Buggs.

Most recently, it was reported that Cameron Heyward and Isaiahh Loudermilk recently came down with an illness that caused them to miss Friday’s practice, though it appears that the team is pretty confident they could be ready in time for the game.

Regardless of the state of the team’s health at the moment, the Steelers certainly can’t use this as an excuse. Mike Tomlin’s team is about to face the most injured organization in football this year.

Ravens will have more absences than the Steelers

There’s probably a reason Lamar Jackson doesn’t look like the same MVP quarterback we saw a few seasons ago. His team has been decimated with injuries over the past two seasons. This year, in particular, no NFL team has more big injuries than Baltimore.

Currently, the Ravens have a whopping 13 players on injured/reserve. These include pivotal pieces like former All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley, starting running back J.K. Dobbins, and All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters.

In addition to these key absences, the Ravens have another 14 players on their injury report heading into Week 13, and they could be without several more starters. This makes for a grand total of 27 injuries on the team right now — more than half of the active roster.

This isn’t to say that Pittsburgh’s injuries haven’t been big. Losing Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu this year has had catastrophic results when it comes to trying to stop the run. Additionally, T.J. Watt has been injured on and off all season and has only looked fully healthy in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.

Still, with the meat wagon rolling in to load up Ravens by the dozens, the Steelers hardly can use injuries and illnesses as an excuse in this contest.

The season could be riding on this game for Pittsburgh, and a loss in Week 13 would essentially force the Steelers to win out if they want a chance at the playoffs. With a home matchup against the NFL’s most banged-up team this week, Mike Tomlin’s squad must be able to come away with the victory.