The Pittsburgh Steelers have one star on their defense trending in one way ahead of facing the Buffalo Bills in the upcoming 2023 Wild-Card round… and another big name heading in the other direction.
Starting with the bad news for the Steelers (10-7), Pittsburgh will be without TJ Watt against the Bills (11-5), according to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
With 19 sacks, Watt is again the league’s sack leader for the third time four seasons. That’s a huge loss. He injured his knee in Pittsburgh’s season finale.
Clearly one of the NFL’s best defensive players, the pass rusher has caused havoc against Buffalo in his career with 2.5 sacks, nine QB hits, three tackles for loss, two passes defended and two forced fumbles in four games played.
On the flip side, there was optimism from Tomlin regarding All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee) per Steelers Wire. Fitzpatrick has missed Pittsburgh’s last three games and could be back to travel up to Buffalo.
Time will tell… as will the injury reports.
Bills Wire will provide injury updates for both teams ahead of their Wild-Card matchup throughout the coming week.
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