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The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without multiple key veterans for their Week 9 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. The team appears in line to have a fully healthy offense, but will be without starting linebacker Cole Holcomb and starting safety Chuck Clark.
Holcomb and Clark are both dealing with illnesses and were downgraded to out on Saturday, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport. Neither should be out for more than one game.
Holcomb is the bigger loss on paper as the team’s starting middle linebacker. However, after notching 54 tackles across eight games in 2024, the sixth-year veteran has struggled in 2025, managing just 25 tackles in his first seven games.
Without Holcomb, the Steelers will start Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson in the middle. Wilson has been a revelation for the team in year two and currently leads the group with 57 tackles.
Clark’s illness will also be felt in the secondary, as the team would have relied on him to fill a bigger role in Week 9. Pittsburgh placed another veteran safety, DeShon Elliott, on injured reserve on Friday, while also ruling Jabrill Peppers out for the game. Their combined absences will be filled by Juan Thornhill and Kyle Dugger.
The Steelers placed another veteran, defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale, on injured reserve at the same time as Elliott. The updates leave Pittsburgh without four defensive starters as it prepares to face the team with the best record in the league.
Without Elliott and Clark, the Steelers will face the Colts while missing two of their top five leading tacklers. The losses of Holcomb and Ekuale create further concerns for Pittsburgh’s already struggling run defense.
The team’s defensive issues will be put to the test by the Colts’ highly efficient offense. Indianapolis runs the ball at the 11th-highest rate in the league and averages 5.0 yards per carry as a team, fifth-best in the NFL.
The Steelers’ defensive struggles are widely known at this point in the season. However, most of their issues have come through the air, where they are allowing the most passing yards in the league.
Now, Pittsburgh’s subpar run defense faces the task of stopping the league’s leading rusher, Jonathan Taylor, without multiple key starters.
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