No big surprises as the Steelers inactive list for Week 16 has several injured players

The Pittsburgh Steelers have released their inactives for their Week 16 game against the Indianapolis Colts. There were three players ruled out due to injury announced on Saturday, so because there was one player elevated from the practice squad the list is made up of 6 players with three or four being due to injury and two or three as healthy scratches.

The player who is unclear if he is a “healthy scratch” against the Colts is running back Anthony McFarland Jr. Listed as questionable on Friday due to missing practice because of an illness, McFarland may have not received a helmet in Week 16 regardless with the return of James Conner. Either way, McFarland is inactive against the Colts.

The three Steelers who were downgraded to out on Saturday were linebacker Marcus Allen, kicker Chris Boswell, and outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi. The loss of Allen led to the signing of Tegray Scales to the 53-man roster while kicker Matthew Wright was elevated from the practice squad to replace Boswell. With the Steelers still having four healthy outside linebackers, there was no need to make a move due to the loss of Adeniyi.

For the 15th straight game, third string quarterback Joshua Dobbs is once again inactive. Depending on how things play out this week across the AFC, Steelers’ fans would like to see Dobbs active next week if there is nothing to play for against the Browns.

The final player on the Steelers inactive list is defensive linemen Isaiah Buggs. The Steelers have been dressing an extra player than they typically do on the defensive line as they are carrying seven players. For the third straight week, it is Buggs who is inactive.

As for the Colts’ inactives, they can be seen below. Most notable is starting left tackle Anthony Castonza who will miss the game due to a knee/ankle injury along with starting right tackle Braden Smith who is on the Reserve/COVID-19 List.