PITTSBURGH — Since Tyson Alualu suffered a sprained MCL in his knee just six snaps into the Steelers' win two weeks ago against the Ravens in Baltimore, the team’s run defense has been, well, abysmal.
Isaiah Buggs, Henry Mondeaux and even rookie seventh-round draft pick Carlos Davis have been pressed into playing increased snaps not just because of the loss of Alualu, the Steelers' starting nose tackle, but because Chris Wormley, a top backup, also was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered prior to the game.
Suddenly, an area of depth had become extremely thin. Mondeaux was signed off the practice squad, while Davis, who had been inactive through the first seven games of the season, saw his first action in last week’s win over the Cowboys.
The Steelers have weathered the storm up front thus far. They’ll take an 8-0 record into Sunday’s game against the Bengals (2-5-1), but they’re walking a very narrow path up front, having allowed 409 rushing yards in their past two games after giving up just 413 in their first six games.
Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar implemented a rotation among the team’s defensive linemen since joining the team three years ago. But starers Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt haven’t gotten as much rotation since Wormley and Alualu went down.
Read this full article at our partners, DKPittsburghSports.com.
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