With the AFC North race tightening and key defenders sidelined, Mike Tomlin is turning to a familiar face to plug a hole in his defense before it’s too late. After all, the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t want to break their winning streak, as the head coach led them to back-to-back wins after a couple of losses. Now he wants to continue it by bringing new players to fill the gaps. And it starts with the defense.

According to the Burgh Sports United reporter, Jason Shetler, the Black and the Gold will sign linebacker Jeremiah Moon off the Panthers’ practice squad. The move brings a familiar face back to Pittsburgh, as Moon played a rotational role for the team just last season. In 13 games (one start) last year, he recorded nine tackles (five solo).

It becomes even more interesting as the Steelers will face the Detroit Lions on December 21. The current injury report mentions that the linebacker Nick Herbig (hamstring) and the cornerback James Pierre (calf) did not practice on Wednesday, December 17, the first day of practice.

Hence, Moon will serve as an important backup, as they have plenty of good linebackers on the roster already. The two best defensive players in the lineup are linebackers Payton Wilson (113 tackles) and Patrick Queen (106 tackles). But the issue is very simple. The Steelers need wins now as the Baltimore Ravens are on their tail in the AFC North with seven victories. So, Mike Tomlin is doing everything he can to keep a balanced, healthy roster.

It becomes even more important as their best linebacker, T.J. Watt, is recovering from surgery. The coach can’t let his team slip off the playoff track.

Mike Tomlin gets an update on T. J. Watt

Before the Week 15 game, the linebacker underwent surgery after a dry needling session gone wrong. He first suffered discomfort, which doctors later found to be a punctured lung. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, where doctors conducted the surgery.

His brother J.J. Watt shared an update about T.J.’s health on the December 17 episode of The Pat McAfee Show.

“He’s working through it,” J.J. said. “It’s obviously not somewhere that he expected or would like to be. Just handling the situation day by day and making sure to find the appropriate and proper steps to get back to where he would like to be.”

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It’s big news for his teammates, who are trying to pay tribute to him through their actions. During their Week 15 win, defensive tackle Cam Heyward copied Watt’s leg-kick sack celebration. But it was enough to show that they were already missing him.

In 13 games this year, T.J. Watt has 53 tackles (22 solo) with seven sacks, seven passes defended, one interception, and three forced fumbles. It shows his impact on the defense when he is playing at his peak form. However, they need him to be healthy before the playoffs begin. That’s the bare minimum!