4 players who came out of nowhere for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13

Steelers CB Justin Layne

I found it very interesting that even with Joe Haden out for this game, cornerback James Pierre didn’t see a single defensive snap against the Ravens. Not only did Ahkello Witherspoon start in place of Haden, but it was Justin Layne who occasionally entered the game in sub-packages; not Pierre.

The results were quite favorable for Pittsburgh, however. While Layne only played nine defensive snaps in Week 13, he flashed speed and closing ability. He earned two solo tackles — one of which was a very impressive pursuit to stop a receiver at the line of scrimmage.

Going from Pierre to two much more athletic cornerbacks in Witherspoon and Layne, the Steelers found much more success against the pass this week, and their speed and length were on full display. Justin Layne has still been a disappointment for the Steelers based on his former third-round draft status, but the team needs to start thinking about utilizing him more down the stretch.

There are many positive performances to highlight from this game, but these Steelers seemed to have come out of nowhere to show up in a big way when the team needed them most. Hats off to them!