The Pittsburgh Steelers got the kind of ending that can hang around a locker room for a long time, and Derrick Harmon was right in the middle of it.
Against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first AFC North meeting of 2026, the Steelers needed a defensive stop to finish the job. They got one from their second-year defensive tackle, who beat the block in front of him, got to Joe Burrow and punched the ball loose. Sebastian Joseph-Day then scooped up the fumble to seal the win.
Harmon said the play started before the ball was even snapped, with a tell from the Bengals’ right tackle that pointed him toward pass protection.
"Just reading my keys, of course, it’s two-minute, so you’re thinking pass,” he said. “Seeing that right tackle with his foot all the way back, and I just knew it was going to be a kick-step, and I just went."
Once he triggered, he never slowed down. Harmon drove through Dalton Risner, closed fast on Burrow and finished the strip-sack himself.
What made the moment even bigger was who was not out there. Cam Heyward, Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt were all on the sideline for that final snap, while Harmon, Jack Sawyer and Nick Herbig handled the rush that ended it.
That’s been part of the Steelers’ story through three weeks: a defense leaning on depth and getting answers from all over the roster. The edge group has been rotated regularly, the secondary has found help from the bench, and in Week 3 rookie Daylen Everette stepped up with impact plays in the pass defense.
The defensive line has followed the same pattern. Heyward is still making life miserable for offenses, Yahya Black has taken a step forward, and Sebastian Joseph-Day has already given the group a major lift.
But Harmon has become the name at the center of it all. He’s showing up as a disruptive pass rusher, looking improved against the run and now adding a clutch finish to his resume.
For a defense that already has established stars, that matters. Harmon is starting to look like another problem opposing offenses have to solve.
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