The Pittsburgh Steelers were extremely shorthanded defensively on Sunday, in numerous ways, in both the short and long term. All in all, they were down five players who should have been starters at the beginning of the season, including the most recent, hopefully one-week absences of outside linebacker T.J. Watt, cornerback Joe Haden, and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, the latter of whom tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
It wasn’t easy for the Steelers to replace any of them, in part due to in-season moves such as the release of Jamir Jones and the trade of Melvin Ingram at outside linebacker, but they had a rookie seventh-round pick in Tre Norwood starting in Fitzpatrick’s spot—going from a two-time first-team All-Pro to somebody making their first career start.