The game was on the line and both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were on the sideline.
For the Steelers, such a development was neither scripted or necessarily ideal back on Oct. 28 against the New York Football Giants.
But once quarterback Daniel Jones' pass on second-and-10 from the Steelers' 35-yard line with 42 seconds left in regulation was intercepted by nickel cornerback Beanie Bishop, a 26-18 victory was secured no matter the division of labor in the final minute.
"I knew Beanie had that," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin joked today. "It's one of those things. And more so than (Watt and Highsmith) being out, I think what it speaks to is we had some quality guys come in there. (Outside linebacker Jeremiah) Moon and (outside linebacker) Ade (Ogundeji) came in there and we got a little bit of pressure on them and made them kind of hurry the throw and that's why they kinda threw it over the check-down and 'oh, shoot,' and we were able to make the play.
"I can't ever determine what's going to go on. I just know we want those guys on the field as much as we can. And when they can't, we have quality guys that go in and spell them."
Watt wound up playing 69 defensive snaps against New York (96 percent).
Highsmith played 64 (89 percent).
Those snap count figures weren't predetermined.
"No, we don't do that," Austin continued. "We let those guys play. You have about, I would say six guys on defense, if they can play every play we let them play every play. Six, eight guys, if they can play every play you let em play every play.
"If they can't, they come out and get a break and they go back in when they're ready."
Help is on the way this week for Watt, who has played 92 percent of the defensive snaps this season, and Highsmith, who has played 78 percent of the defensive snaps while missing three games due to injury.
Outside linebacker Nick Herbig was among a handful of injured players "on the cusp" of returning to availability for Sunday's game at Washington, according to head coach Mike Tomlin.
And on Tuesday the Steelers traded for Packers outside linebacker/defense end Preston Smith.
Smith has 68.5 career sacks, including 2.5 this season with the Packers.
"I think it was important," Austin said of the Smith acquisition. "It really kind of showed itself when we got really banged up there. We're going into a week and we had T.J., Alex, we weren't sure if we were going to have Moon (activated off the reserve/injured list). We had to bring Ade up (from the practice squad). We had to sign some guys. What it does is it gives us really quality depth out there so we hope not to be in that position again.
"(Smith) brings a guy that has a distinct resume in this league. He's been a good player in a 3-4 system. He can set edges, rush the quarterback. We're happy with his arrival. We'll see what we do with him as he gets acclimated to us. But we do know we have a varsity performer, as Mike (Tomlin) likes to call them."
