The Pittsburgh Steelers defense delivered a statement performance on Sunday, bouncing back in a big way after getting tormented by the Bengals in their first meeting this season. Cincinnati came into Pittsburgh with its offense still firing on all cylinders, but the Steelers shut that down fast.
The defense held Joe Flacco to just 199 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception, and completely neutralized Ja’Marr Chase, arguably the best wide receiver in football, limiting him to only 3 catches for 30 yards.
The biggest surprise of the game was James Pierre, who shadowed Chase all afternoon and shut him down. Pierre has quietly played excellent football whenever he has been on the field. With Darius Slay exiting the Chargers game with a concussion and missing the Bengals matchup because he remained in protocol, Pierre stepped into the starting role and did more than hold his own; he excelled.
Given Pierre’s performance and Slay’s struggles this season, it felt reasonable to expect Pierre to remain the team's second starting outside cornerback. But during Mike Tomlin's weekly Tuesday press conference, he made a confusing comment about the cornerback situation that left many fans scratching their heads about who will actually start against the Bears.
Mike Tomlin confirms Darius Slay will step back into the Pittsburgh Steelers starting lineup after clearing concussion protocol
In Tomlin's Tuesday press conference, he stated that Darius Slay will return to the starting lineup once he is healthy. The decision is puzzling, considering Slay has been a liability all season and James Pierre has played extremely well in his absence.
With the addition of Asante Samuel Jr, it was reasonable to think we might have already seen the last of Slay as a full-time starter and that he would simply be a depth piece going forward.
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The defense has finally found something that works, and it would have made sense to keep everything intact and let the momentum continue. But there is one clear reason why Slay is returning to the starting role: he is on a $10 million, one-year contract. Also knowing how this organization operates, they are far too stubborn to admit they were wrong or allow a player making that much money to sit on the bench.
If Slay plays on Sunday, which now seems very likely, the real question becomes how short his leash will be. If he struggles early against the Bears the way he has most of this season, it will be interesting to see whether Tomlin finally turns to Pierre as the long-term option at cornerback.