‘We Asked a Lot of Them’: Steelers ILBs Carry Undermanned Defense

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers were missing three cornerbacks, Minkah Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt, and others, but the defense held Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to 18 points Sunday. That is not easy to do, but Pittsburgh leaned upon their inside linebackers in order to potentially come through in a big moment.

Myles Jack, Devin Bush, and Robert Spillane were all on the field at times together. The Steelers ran a 3-3-5 look that they never pulled out all season. The inside linebackers were left in tough coverage spots, but they somehow rose to the occasion in order to pull off a huge win. For Jack and company, it was a vindicating performance after a season of up-and-down play from the unit. In particular, the Steelers had four pass deflections on the day, and all of them came from the linebackers.

“I felt like this all was big,” Jack said. “We felt like we were the last healthy group to say. We feel like we had to step up and make the key plays today. I felt like we did that today. I really do.”

Jack’s jumping pass deflection allowed the Steelers to shrug off a potential touchdown to Cam Brate. Later in the game,  Spillane broke up a pass intended for Cade Otten up the seam that could have been another touchdown. Then, there was Bush’s pass breakup against Chris Godwin to allow the Steelers to keep the lead. It was a unit that made critical play after critical play. Bush and company felt that the group as a whole rallied.

“It was huge for us,” Bush said. “We had so many guys down in the secondary. Kenny came into the second game and Freiermuth was out. Our group was healthy and we had to step up and make plays.”

Bush read Brady’s eyes perfectly on the two-point play. He said he saw it coming all the way and just had to make the play when necessary. It was a play that seemed like it was a long time coming for Bush, who has dealt with plenty of adversity since his torn ACL in 2020.

“I knew it was some type of crossing route,” Bush said. “When it was his first read, I knew what was coming. Man, it was just read and react. I had to do it.”

The defensive line wreaked havoc on Brady for most of the game, but they would not have been able to do without the help of the inside linebackers. Cam Heyward shouted them out as the key to winning the game for the defense. Without them, the Steelers may not be in the spot they were in at the end of the game.

“I know Devin had the big play at the end on the two-point which was huge,” Heyward said. “He doesn’t get a lot of credit for that. But, man, that was a big play. But I don’t know if it was Myles [Jack] or Devin, but I saw them get their hands up and it just floated over just a little bit. That’s a big play. Just getting your hands up and making it sail just a little bit.”

With so many other injuries around the team, Pittsburgh left its linebackers at mercy to Tampa Bay. They played in man coverage, and they were used all around the field. Mike Tomlin was appreciative of their efforts throughout the game, and credited them as big contributors to the win.

“I’m appreciative of that group,” Tomlin said. “We asked a lot of them. We were running thin in the secondary and so we called on them a lot. We play all three of our inside linebackers in various packages because that’s where our depth was. Robert Spillane, I thought was critical today in terms of us being able to do things because he played positions other than inside linebacker. In some instances, he was representing a nickel. In some instances, he was representing a down safety. To be able to do that, I’m just appreciative of his intellect and his efforts. It allowed us to put our very best collection of people on the field and that’s what you got to do sometimes when you’re in less-than-ideal circumstances.”

Pittsburgh hopes to get healthy in the secondary soon, but for one afternoon, it was their inside linebackers that became the most valuable players on the field.