When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, stopping the run will be a top priority. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley might be the best running back in the NFL. Now it looks like the Steelers will have to try to stop Barkley without arguably their best run defender.
It sounds like strong safety DeShon Elliott could miss Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury that surfaced just after last week’s game. But free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick offered up the perfect solution for how the Steelers will adapt to the loss of Elliott.
“Next man up,” Fitzpatrick said. The next man in this case would be Damontae Kazee who started for the Steelers last season. Elliott supplanted Kazee in the starting lineup but Kazee is a fearless hitter who is strong in run support.
We could also see defensive back Cameron Sutton play some safety as well as he’s listed as the No. 2 free safety. This would put rookie Beanie Bishop into a heavy workload as the team’s nickel cornerback.
