BALTIMORE -- Teams rarely make it through a season without having their depth tested. But the Steelers took that to a new level on Sunday in their 28-24 win over the Ravens.
With inside linebackers Devin Bush (knee, IR) and Ulysees Gilbert (back, inactive) out against the Ravens, the Steelers had to get creative with how they matched Baltimore's offensive packages.
That meant on passing downs, converted safety Marcus Allen played the linebacker in the dime package.
But the adjustments hardly stopped there. With nickel cornerback Mike Hilton also out, his spot was filled at times by cornerback Cameron Sutton and at others by linebacker Alex Highsmith as the Steelers tried to keep some run-stopping ability on the field. Other times saw Highsmith replacing cornerback Steven Nelson depending on what package the Ravens had on the field.
Then, nose tackle Tyson Alualu suffered a knee injury early in the game, meaning second-year pro Isaiah Buggs and first-year player Henry Mondeaux were pressed into action. Later in the game, defensive lineman Cam Heyward also was in and out of the game in the fourth quarter, leaving Stephon Tuitt as the team's lone starting defensive lineman available. Chris Wormley, acquired via a trade with the Ravens in the offseason, was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a knee injury.
The result was a defensive effort that was, well, pretty ugly at times, as the Steelers, who entered the game with the league's top-rated defense at 286.3 yards per game, allowed 265 yards on the ground alone as Baltimore had 457 total yards.
But the young guys did come up with some big plays. Highsmith had an interception that set up a touchdown that helped the Steelers erase a 17-7 halftime deficit. Buggs was part of a fourth-down stop on quarterback Lamar Jackson on which he fumbled, but would have turned the ball over on downs, anyway.
Robert Spillane, Bush's replacement, returned an interception for a touchdown and recovered the aforementioned Jackson fumble.
"Who says they're not supposed to make big plays?" said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when asked about the Steelers getting some big plays from lesser-known players. "We expect big things from everybody. How awesome were the turnovers, the defense stepping up during the game numerous times throughout the game? It's just fun. It's fun to see everyone contribute. That's what makes this team special. Everyone does it. Everyone helps each other out."
Still, there were some times the Ravens took advantage of some of the non-starters out there. Spillane was just a little late to the edge a couple of times on Baltimore runs, as his lack of top-end speed -- at least compared to Bush -- was evident.
And Mike Tomlin wasn't exactly happy with the play of Buggs at nose tackle, especially early.
"He needed to, but when he first came in there, he wasn't," said Tomlin when asked about Buggs' "impressive" performance -- not my question.
"I am just being honest, you know? We didn't have anywhere else to go. It wasn't like we were going to put someone else in there. He had to knuckle down and get active, and he did."
The Steelers should get Hilton back next week when they play the Cowboys. Heyward was cramping up the first time he left the game and limped to the locker room on his own without help after the game, so there's a good chance he'll be ready to go next week, as well.
But the outlook doesn't look good for Alualu. And Bush is out for the season. At the very least, Wormley is out at least three more weeks before he would be eligible to return from IR.
The Steelers made a big move Sunday night, acquiring linebacker Avery Williamson from the Jets.
Now, perhaps, they might also need to do something on the defensive line.
After all, the Steelers ended this game with just Tuitt, Buggs and Mondeaux healthy, though rookie Carlos Davis, a seventh-round draft pick, was inactive. So, a trade might be needed there.
Or, perhaps they kick the massive tires on Dontari Poe, who was released by the Cowboys earlier this week after Dallas couldn't find any trade partners for the big nose tackle.
• So, why the trade for Williamson now with Spillane coming off a career-type game?
This is a team that is feeling like a Super Bowl contender. And the record would say that it is.
But you can't get gouged for 265 yards on the ground in a game and not make some kind of change. And at just $1.45 million or so for the rest of the season, Williams is a good rental. The Steelers gave up a fifth-round pick in 2022 and also got back a seventh-round selection in 2022.
If Williamson leaves at the end of the season and gets a decent contract, he'll also possibly recoup a compensatory pick, as well. At the very least, he would factor into their compensatory pick equation.
This one is a win-win, though he's certainly not Bush.
Williamson's talents are more akin to those of Vince Williams than those of Bush. But he's a veteran who has played a lot of football.
It's nice that Spillane has made some plays, but Williamson's talents will allow this defense to be a better unit than the one that was on the field Sunday.
• The Ravens had two full weeks to prepare for this game, and it showed.
They had the Steelers bottled up on offense in the first half -- though field position also played a critical role in that. The Steelers had four possessions in the first half that started at their own 16, 4 and 15 before getting the ball at their own 25 on their final possession of the half.
Even with the Ravens turning the ball over at their own 21 on the interception by Highsmith, the Steelers' average starting position in this game was their own 22.
It's tough to move the ball against the Ravens, who blitz more than any team in the league, when you're constantly in the shadows of your own goal posts.
It certainly changes how you attack things, though the Steelers were taking frequent shots early in the game and it would get them three big pass interference penalties from the very grabby Baltimore secondary.
The Ravens like to play a lot of man-to-man and the Steelers liked those matchups, even if they didn't always work out.
In fact, the Steelers used some packages that forced the Ravens to play man-to-man, including using one that had tight ends Eric Ebron and Vance McDonald on the field with wide receiver Chase Claypool and running backs James Conner and Jaylen Samuels.
That was in the first half. In the second half, the Steelers just went with their most talented pass-catchers on the field and forced the Ravens to match up.
• The Steelers continued their use of Bud Dupree as a chess piece in this game. Dupree lined up at his usual right outside linebacker spot. But other times he was standing up behind the line of scrimmage and attacked from there.
Dupree's strip-sack of Jackson was a massive play in this game and it was a pure hustle play. That's why the Steelers were never down on Dupree like a healthy portion of the fan base was. He hustles on every play.
And now, in his past 23 games, he has 17.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. The argument could be made that he's the scariest of the Steelers defensive players, though Tuitt and T.J. Watt certainly draw their share of attention, too, as does Heyward.
Tuitt had two more sacks in this game, giving him six on the season, while Watt had a sack and five of the Steelers' nine QB hits.
That's what this defense is built to do: Rush the passer and take the ball away.
It's not a shutdown defense. There's no such animal in today's NFL. But if you create big plays, you're an effective defense.
The Steelers create big plays. And Dupree has been a huge part of that.
• This was a costly win for the Steelers, to be sure, if Alualu is out for an extended period of time.
But it was even more costly to the Ravens, who lost left tackle Ronnie Stanley for the rest of the season to a broken ankle. The Ravens just gave Stanley, one of the top three or four left tackles in the league, a five-year, $98.75 million contract extension last week.
The Ravens moved massive right tackle Orlando Brown to left tackle and inserted D.J. Fluker at right tackle. Both of those players are far better run blockers than they are pass blockers.
The Ravens weren't a team that's built to play from behind, even when they had Stanley, by far their best pass blocker. Now, it's even more so.
And, as we saw Sunday, when the Ravens have to go to a pass-first mode, Jackson also is prone to mistakes.
In fact, in two career starts against the Steelers, he's turned the ball over seven times.
• Roethlisberger has been through these chess matches with the Ravens many times. In fact, he's now 16-11 all-time against the Ravens, including the playoffs.
He only threw for 182 yards and completed 21 of 32 passes, but that was after completing just 4 of 10 for 24 yards in the first half.
So, he was 17-for-22 for 158 yards in the second half. James Conner, meanwhile, had six carries for 5 yards in the second half, finishing with 15 carries for 47 yards.
For these Steelers, it's in Ben they trust.
Some were questioning whether Roethlisberger's elbow was bothering him after that first half. But he looked just fine in the second half.
• A 7-0 start is a 7-0 start, no matter how you get there.
When the Steelers went into this stretch of road games against the Titans, Ravens and then Cowboys next week, the idea was that if they could win two of the three, they'd be in good shape. Win all three? Well, now you're living large.
The Steelers have won the first two in that three-game stretch. And it will be tough on the team to win three in a row on the road.
But you have to like their odds going to Dallas next week.
• Kudos to the offensive line for getting the job done in this one. Like everything else, it wasn't pretty.
But the Ravens throw all kinds of blitz packages at an offense, and it never really seemed like the Ravens were storming the castle.
Roethlisberger got hit, to be sure. But the Ravens only had two sacks and had five quarterback hits.
The Steelers, on the other hand, had four sacks and nine knockdowns against a quarterback with far more mobility than Roethlisberger.
• I get the Jordan Berry angst. His first punt in the game was not good, traveling just 34 yards before going out of bounds.
But he was pretty good after that, finishing the Ravens off with a 48-yard punt from his own 15 that drew a fair catch. That's flipping the field in a key situation.
Berry isn't ever going to the Pro Bowl. But he was hardly the biggest issue for the Steelers in this game, averaging 42.2 yards per punt and downing two inside the 20.
• The Steelers could very well be favored in the rest of their games this season.
The Bills have cooled off slightly after a hot start, and the Steelers travel there Dec. 13. But after this game, the schedule eases up a great deal.
In fact, the only remaining games against teams that currently have winning records are the rematch with the Ravens Thanksgiving night, that game in Buffalo, one at home Dec. 27 against the Colts and the regular season finale in Cleveland for the annual Browns fire-the-coach game.