The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off of a disappointing loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, so the last thing they needed was to receive some more bad news on the injury front. After missing Troy Polamalu and Ryan Shazier against the Jets, the Steelers will be forced to play without both defensive stars against the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football next week. The Titans are another bottom-feeder team and present even less of a threat to the Steelers, but the Week 10 loss to the Jets proved that you can’t take any opponent lightly in the NFL.
Still Curtain
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stated that star safety Troy Polamalu, rookie inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, and veteran cornerback Ike Taylor have all been ruled out this week against the Titans. These three injuries are of huge concerns to the Steelers, since these are three of their best players on D. Bishop Sankey looked OK and Zach Mettenberger has a strong arm, but the Steelers still shouldn’t be threatened much. I mean, the Jets had more talent on offense in Chris Ivory, Michael Vick, Eric Decker, and Percy Harvin.
Taylor has been out since breaking his arm in Week 3, but it seems like he’s nearing a return and could be available to face the New Orleans Saints following the Week 12 bye. Shazier also suffered an injury in that Week 3 blowout win over the Carolina Panthers, but he is missing time with a different injury.