The Steelers came into Sunday’s game on a four-game losing streak and they were facing Tom Brady and the Buccaneers with four members of their secondary inactive because of injuries.
Those things helped make Pittsburgh double-digit underdogs at home, but the game didn’t play out the way bookmakers expected it to go. The Steelers’ makeshift secondary didn’t get torn apart and the Steelers played with a lead after Najee Harris’ touchdown midway through the first quarter.
Brady finished 25-of-40 for 243 yards and a touchdown and the Bucs converted just 4-of-14 third downs in the 20-18 Steelers win. Head coach Mike Tomlin praised the job the defensive backs did after the game.
“I can’t say enough about the secondary group that we had out there today,” said Tomlin. “Man, it was it was a great opportunity for a lot of those guys. First opportunity in some instances, redemption in some instances, guys getting an opportunity to get back in the fold. Guys that hadn’t been a part of us, like Josh Jackson, being one. Just can’t say enough about what they were able to do collectively. It’s a challenge when you play Tom Brady. I just thought they did a really good job of letting our disguises work. I didn’t have a big menu because we can’t have a big menu. We got some young guys and inexperienced guys playing, so whatever we had, we had to dress it up. I thought they did a really good job dressing it up and fighting the fight down in and down out. Hopefully we learn and grow in the right ways through the success in this experience because that’s what the journey is about.”
The Steelers will be hoping to get some of their injured players back for next Sunday’s trip to Miami, but they’ll feel a bit more comfortable with the current cast of characters if they have to go that way.
