'Next Man Up' Mentality Now Hits Steelers Defensive Line
PITTSBURGH -- For a team unbeaten, the Pittsburgh Steelers are dealing with as many injuries to both sides of the ball as any team in the NFL.
They haven't dealt with the loss of a quarterback, and only placed one starter on Injured Reserve, but week-after-week, they're looking for depth to step in and fill some role on either side of the ball.
This week, it's Isaiah Buggs. As Tyson Alualu deals with a knee injury that doesn't look like he'll overcome before Sunday, the second-year defensive tackle is set to make his first NFL start.
The 2019 sixth-round pick found himself in Pittsburgh behind a pretty jacked-up defensive front. First, it was Javon Hargrave with Alualu playing the backup role. Then, it was Alualu with Chris Wormley playing the backup role.
Now, it's just Buggs. After Wormley was placed on Injured Reserve due to his own knee injury, the Steelers turned to Buggs to be their second tackle on the defensive line. Without Alualu in Week 9, it's Buggs who will likely get the start against the Dallas Cowboys.
"I'm ready and I'm prepared," Buggs said on his first NFL start. "Learning from Tyson [Alualu], Stephon [Tuitt] and Cam [Heyward], guys I've been around for two years. Watching those guys and learning how they play and do things around here, I'm sure that I'm ready for the opportunity."
Buggs hasn't always impressed, though. Head coach Mike Tomlin wasn't overly thrilled with the defensive tackles' performance in Week 8 when he filled in for Alualu but understands growth is coming with more experience.
"[Buggs] is continually gaining an understanding of what professional conditioning is about," Tomlin said on Tuesday. "I don't know that he understood that a year ago. That's often the case for young people. He's really improved in that area, moving into his second year, and I think that is providing a springboard for an improvement in play. It's reasonable to expect him to continually get better with more snap exposure. I know he did on Sunday in that game. We're excited about him getting additional opportunities going forward and expect him to continually get better."
Against the Ravens, Buggs might not have started strong, but he finished with maybe the biggest play of the afternoon. As the Ravens lined up for a 4th and 3 inside the Steelers 10-yard line with timing running out in the fourth quarter, quarterback Lamar Jackson targeted Buggs as the defenses weak link.
Jackson took off up the middle on a quarterback draw, where he found the second-year lineman waiting.
"I believed that they tried to run that draw on the last play," Buggs said about the final play of the Ravens drive. "Before we got started, I told them, 'man, I think it's going to be a draw this play. You guys can get up field and I'm going to sit at the line of scrimmage and wait and read his eyes and see what he's going to do.' He did and I took advantage of it and made that play."
The Cowboys aren't the threat the Ravens are. Dallas is working with a backup quarterback, whoever they decide it is, and a 2-6 record that has shown little promise this season.
Still, Buggs needs to come prepared. It's his first-ever NFL start, he'll battle against an offensive line that is beaten up, but not dead, and has the challenge of stopping Ezekiel Elliott.
"[Elliott] runs with great body lean. He's probably one of the best backs that we're going to face all year in terms of body lean and finishing plays," Buggs said. "He has good eyes. We have to be in our gaps - gap sound. If he has a place, he'll find that. He'll kill us in that aspect. We just have to play Pittsburgh Steelers defense. That's the only way we're going to get out of the stadium with a win."
Next man up now falls on Buggs. A sixth-round pick out of Alabama, who's 16th career game comes Sunday against the Cowboys. Another chapter to the rough road the Steelers have climbed to find 7-0.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
