In this week’s injury report, the Pittsburgh Steelers listed three players as out, and two as questionable. On the defensive side of the ball, safety Robert Golden and defensive end Stephon Tuitt are both ruled out, while linebacker Anthony Chickillo is listed as questionable. On offense, tight end Ladarius Green is out with a concussion still while fellow tight end, Xavier Grimble, is listed as questionable.
Resting Starters is Crucial to the Pittsburgh Steelers Postseason Success
Many have been wondering if the Steelers would decide to rest some of their starters with the third seed in the AFC already wrapped up. The Steelers face their divisional rival, the Cleveland Browns, who just won their first game of the season last week against the San Diego Chargers. Browns head coach Hue Jackson says that he’ll believe the Steelers starters are resting when he sees it happen.
“That’s his choice,” Jackson said. “He gets to do what he wants to do. We’ll know more when we walk out there. I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m not going to worry about that. I’m worried about us playing well. All I can do is coach our team.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says that he plans on resting the “three B’s” (Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown), but that he doesn’t plan on resting any other healthy starters.
“No, I envision going in playing with the guys on the active list and playing to win,” he said. “Under the procedure that we’re going through in terms of playing this game, it doesn’t mean that we care any less about winning. Every week, we fill out an inactive list. Those that are not on the list are expected to do what is required to win. This week is no different.”
Le’Veon Bell‘s Workload
Le’Veon Bell has become a candidate for league MVP in his last few games, but he’s also had quite a heavy workload over those games. In the past three games combined, Bell has carried the ball 81 times. With 261 carries on the season, that means that Bell received 31 percent of his carries this season in just the past three games. While Bell definitely could use some rest, fellow running back DeAngelo Williams hasn’t played since early November in the Steelers first matchup with the Ravens. Williams started the year looking like a solid backup to Bell, racking up 143 yards on 26 carries in the season opener against the Washington Redskins. Once Bell returned from his suspension in week 4, Williams didn’t play nearly as much. Getting Williams back on track against the Browns will be a big boost to the offense, especially Bell since he won’t feel like he has to do as much to carry the team.
Resting Roethlisberger
Landry Jones will be getting the start at quarterback in place of Roethlisberger. Jones is 1-2 as a starting quarterback in his career, with four touchdown passes and five interceptions. Starting Jones gives Roethlisberger a much-needed extra game in order to get completely healthy. Of course, Roethlisberger had surgery this season to repair his meniscus, so any extra time to rest will surely be appreciated. On top of Roethlisberger getting rest, Jones gets some needed playing time heading into the playoffs. If Roethlisberger were to get injured again, it’s important to have Jones ready to go and in a bit of a groove. Plus, while Jones may not be the Steelers quarterback of the future, a little showcase for him at the end of the year might help drive up his value and interest for the impending free agent.
O-Line Wants to Keep their Rhythm
Many believe that Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey will also get some needed rest in this game, but the Steelers offensive line has stated that they don’t want any rest in order to stay in their rhythm.
Steelers offensive linemen uniformly saying they’re not looking to rest vs Browns, even w/ 3 seed locked up. Keep citing rhythm.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 26, 2016
It might be a good idea to get David DeCastro some rest too since he’s also had some injury issues this year, as well as Alejandro Villanueva. Villanueva is in charge of protecting Roethlisberger’s blind side, and an injury to him could be catastrophic to the Steelers offense. Although the offensive line doesn’t want to lose their rhythm, they may need to think about weighing the pros and cons of playing in this game. A win doesn’t mean anything and neither does a loss. The biggest victory the Steelers can achieve from this game is leaving the stadium with everyone healthy.
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