- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier is expected to miss the remainder of the season according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, following an injury he sustained on Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals.
- Shazier has had an excellent season in 2017, ranking eighth among qualifying linebackers with a grade of 84.7 through thirteen weeks. He has been particularly impressive defending the pass, allowing a passer rating of just 79.3 into his coverage, which ranks fourth out of 74 linebackers with at least 300 snaps.
- Shazier has been consistent in all aspects of play in 2017, his pass-rush grade of 70.4 ranks eighth, whilst his run-defense grade of 75.7 ranks 29th at his position. He also leads the Pittsburgh Steelers with 34 defensive stops so far this year.
- Tyler Matakevich replaced Shazier against the Bengals, but is likely to miss Week 14 having also left Monday Night’s game due to injury. Instead, eighth-year veteran Arthur Moats is expected to get “first crack” at replacing Shazier against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday per the AP’s Will Graves. This will mean a position switch for Moats, who has been used sparingly by Pittsburgh this season at outside linebacker and has not seen the majority of his defensive snaps at inside linebacker since his 2013 season with the Buffalo Bills.
- The team also has L.J. Fort and newly-signed Sean Spence as potential replacements. Matakevich, Moats, Fort and Spence have combined for just 130 snaps through 13 weeks.
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