Steelers' Alex Highsmith Gets Great News About Monday Night Football Matchup Against The New York Giants

The Pittsburgh Steelers are set up nicely with a record of 5-2 as the team enters a Week 8 Monday Night Football contest against the New York Giants. With a bye in Week 9, Mike Tomlin's team could cruise into the break period with the playoffs in its sights. There is a brutal backend of the schedule waiting for the franchise, but six wins in the first eight games would be a tremendous start. The group matches up well with a struggling Giants team, and the Steelers will have advantages when it comes to several different matchups in the prime time game.

A lot of talk surrounding Pittsburgh's defense is focused on TJ Watt, and deservedly so. The 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year has been nothing short of phenomenal since he was drafted in 2017. His partner-in-crime, however, Alex Highsmith, flies under the radar from time to time and did exactly that in Week 7 versus the New York Jets. 

Highsmith came back from injury after missing three games and while he didn't register a sack, had four tackles and two quarterback hits. As the Giants are undoubtedly preparing for Watt, Highsmith may be the one that should be expected to have an absolutely massive game. A struggling New York tackle in Joshua Ezeudu is getting the nod to start once again.

Steelers fans will recognize Chris Hubbard's name, as the lineman played in the Steel City from 2014 to 2017, but Ezeudu is the one who Highsmith will challenge on Monday evening. Ezeudu was drafted in the third round back in 2022, and is coming off of an awful game in which he allowed three pressures and two sacks against the Philadelphia Eagles. Highsmith should be in a good place to make a significant impact.

Even if Ezeudu struggles and the Giants turn to Hubbard, the veteran was recently poached off of the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad. He might not be ready to give a full workload for New York. Regardless of who is in there, and with the amount of attention that Watt is expected to get, Highsmith has to be licking his chops as he prepares for Monday.

Highsmith didn't have the type of game in his return versus the Jets that will pop out on a stat sheet, but he was constantly in the backfield and blowing up anyone trying to block him. With Ezeudu's recent struggles, it's hard to envision the edge rusher having trouble getting after Daniel Jones and the Giants' running backs. It should be fun to watch for Steelers fans.

The defense has been opportunistic in recent weeks, but hasn't been the best at getting after the opposing teams' quarterbacks. The unit only has two sacks in two weeks, which is below average for a group that is constantly putting signal-callers on their backs.

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Nick Herbig is dealing with a hamstring injury and hasn't been practicing in recent weeks. He's not expected to be ready to go when the team plays New York, but his return is desperately wanted by the fan base. The three-headed monster of Watt, Highsmith and Herbig is one of the best edge rushing trios in all of football. They could even make up the best. Once he is fully healthy, all of them remaining as such will cause big-time problems for opposing quarterbacks.

Do you think that Highsmith is bound to have a huge game on Monday? Let us know in the comments below!

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