While the Pittsburgh Steelers secured a crucial division win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, the defense surrendered 27 points as Joe Burrow found rhythm early. Yet, when the game hung in the balance late in the fourth quarter, it wasn't the usual marquee stars making the game-ending splash plays, it was the role players stepping up.
On his “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger praised this "non-A players" blueprint, emphasizing how depth defines championship-caliber defenses.
Roethlisberger candidly evaluated the defense's performance, noting that allowing 27 points fell short of expectations. He pointed out that fans kept waiting for edge rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith to wreck
the game, but Cincinnati's game plan contained them.
"You kept waiting for it, and honestly, it just, it never came from Alex or T.J., and I'm not saying that to bring them down," Roethlisberger explained. "The defense got plays from their non-A players, right? So, you had plays from Yahya [Black], from [Derrick] Harmon, [Payton] Wilson, [Patrick] Queen was making plays.
“You got plays from almost the unexpected, which I think is going to go a long way down this road that we're on because you expect T.J., Alex, [Jalen] Ramsay, Herby [Nick Herbig]. You expect those guys to make the plays. When all of a sudden you got other guys making plays now too, I feel better about that."
The depth was especially evident on Cincinnati's final drive, where Chef Evan noted that Watt, Highsmith, and Cameron Heyward weren't even on the field for the decisive stand, leaving rotational players like DeMarvin Leal and Nick Herbig to lock down the victory.
"In order to be the best team that we can be, we need the defense from Week 1 and 2, and this offense," Roethlisberger added. "When you get plays from guys you weren't expecting, it opens up our guys on the outside."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Ben Roethlisberger explains why zero sacks from T.J. Watt is okay
