–Veteran cornerback Coty Sensabaugh has won a starting job after rotating with former first-round pick Artie Burns for much of the season. Burns, the No. 25 overall pick in 2016, began the season as the starter, but he was benched after giving up three touchdowns in a Week 2 loss to the Chiefs.
Burns and Sensabaugh rotated for the next four games. The turning point in the competition came when Burns was late for a walkthrough the day before a home game against the Browns. Burns was disciplined and did not play a defensive snap in that game. Sensabaugh started and played the entire game as the starter against the Ravens, and head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed on Monday that Sensabaugh is now the starter.
Burns is in the third year of his rookie contract. The Steelers will continue to work with him in an effort to get his career back on track, but they also must make a decision by May. That’s when they must decide if they want to exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. Since 2011, the Steelers have exercised the fifth-year option on all of their first-round picks except Jarvis Jones. Burns could be the next one.
–The Steelers signed Morgan Burnett to a three-year contract worth nearly $15 million to be a starter. Injuries during the first half of the season prevented Burnett from assuming that role. He missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury and missed four games with a groin injury. He made one start in Week 2, but those injuries have limited him to playing mostly in sub-packages in the four games he has played.
Rookie first-round pick Terrell Edmunds has started seven games, but head coach Mike Tomlin said he’d like to see Burnett take over as the starter in the second half of the season for a variety of reasons.
“Edmunds has done a nice job, but the totality of his play largely has been because of the lack of availability for Morgan, and as Morgan gains his footing from a health standpoint, I am interested in playing both guys,” Tomlin said. “A lot of exposure for young guys isn’t always good for their growth and development because with exposure comes negativity.
“Edmunds has done a nice job, but I am not going to forget why he’s in the lineup down-in and down-out and that is because Morgan has been hurt. As Morgan gets healthy, I am open to infusing him back into the lineup and watching those guys compete and letting both guys play and hopefully getting productive play out of the position.”
–With the victory in Baltimore, the Steelers are 3-1-1 in AFC North play and assured themselves of a winning record in the division for the fifth time in the past six years. The only season in that span the Steelers did not have a winning record in the division was 2015, when they were 3-3. The Bengals won the division title that year.
The Steelers won the division in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Even in 2012 and 2013, when the Steelers missed the playoffs, they did not have a losing record in division play. They were 4-2 in 2013 and 3-3 in 2012.
The previous time the Steelers had a losing record within the division was 2009, when they finished 2-4. The Steelers have one division game remaining – against the Bengals Dec. 30 at Heinz Field.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1,085 – Number of scrimmage yards for James Conner through the first eight games of the season. Conner is on almost the exact same pace as Le’Veon Bell was in 2014, when Bell set the franchise record for yards in a season and earned All-Pro honors for the first time. Bell had 1,086 yards in the first eight games of the 2014 season.
