Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin expects to have a fully healthy active team when his team hosts the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18. That includes the return of a defensive starter who was absent during of Pittsburgh’s 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas. Day.
Starting cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is expected to be back for Saturday night’s game after injuring his knee in Pittsburgh’s Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Porter’s presence is significant for Saturday’s game since the Steelers will undoubtedly face the of the NFL best receiver duo in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The duo combined to catch 20 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns in Cincinnati’s win over Denver in Week 17, which kept its playoff hopes alive.
Porter (who started each of Pittsburgh’s first 15 games of the season) was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice, alongside backup quarterback Justin Fields (abdominal), who was also inactive during the Pittsburgh’s Week 17 loss to Kansas City.
The Steelers also opened the 21-day practice windows for rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson (hamstring) and inside linebacker Cole Holcomb. A third-round pick in 2024, Wilson (who fully participated in practice Tuesday) has been on injured reserve since October 28. Holcomb, a 2023 free agent acquisition, started Pittsburgh’s first eight games last year before suffering a season-ending injury. knee injury against the Tennessee Titans. Holcomb was limited during Tuesday’s practice.
After being without several star players during their three-game losing streak, Tomlin is surely hoping that a healthier team will help Pittsburgh secure the first playoff victory since 2016. But before they can do that, the Steelers will have to finish the regular season against the Bengals. team that must win and have the Broncos and Dolphins lose their respective Week 18 matchups in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Although their playoff spot is already assured, the Steelers have a few things to play for Saturday night. A Ravens win and loss to the Browns would give the Steelers the AFC North title and a home game in the wild-card round. If Baltimore wins, a Pittsburgh victory would clinch the AFC the fifth seed in the playoffs and a showdown with the fourth-seeded Texans in Houston.
But beyond the standings, Saturday’s game is important from a momentum standpoint. The Steelers would prefer to enter the tournament with a win, which is why Tomlin should play every one of his players healthy against the Bengals.
“Certainly, it’s a motivated group trying to make its way into this tournament,” Tomlin said of Cincinnati, “but we’re certainly a motivated group, to be quite honest with you. We have to feel the stench of our last few performances, and there’s no better way to do that than a division win at home against a great group before the tournament And so that’s our mentality today, we have. had some really good meetings to get things done. Kick-off started this morning and we will continue it at Acrisure (stadium) in prime time on Saturday evening.
