There is no replacing a player like T.J. Watt, who is universally regarded as one of the greatest players in football today. One could certainly take issue with the manner in which the Pittsburgh Steelers went about insulating themselves against injury to their star player prior to the start of this season, but any realistic option they could have carried out wouldn’t have sufficiently satisfied.
The injury caused the coaching staff to get creative and expanded the use of a 3-3-5 nickel package, featuring rookie third-round defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal as a third lineman. Gradually, they also began to stand him up.