Man, Thursday's a rough day for Pittsburgh. After losing TJ Watt to injury early in their matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, the Pittsburgh Steelers got absolutely rattled on both ends of the field. Their offensive line couldn't hold off the Vikings defense, and their defense bowed down to Dalvin Cook.

To add salt to the wound, another member of the Steelers defense went down with an injury. Alex Highsmith, their outside linebacker, suffered a knee injury in the second half against the Vikings. He's now been ruled out of the game for good. (via Burt Lauten)

It's another devastating blow to the Steelers' defense, as they were already missing the services of Watt for the majority of this game. Even before Alex Highsmith's injury, the visiting team couldn't hold off the Vikings offense, as Cook and quarterback Kirk Cousins dismantled them thoroughly. Add the offensive line's struggles to protect Ben Roethlisberger, and the result is a complete and total domination of the Steelers.

With the score at 23 – 0 at halftime, the Steelers decided to keep TJ Watt out of the game for good. They also did the same for Highsmith, as Mike Tomlin and his crew feels like it isn't worth it to put them back out there and risk another injury. It's the right long-term move, but it will cost them prime positioning for a wild-card spot.

For now, though, the Steelers have to go back to the drawing board to see what went wrong in this game. Can they fix their defensive struggles internally? Or will the problems require massive personnel changes, both on and off the field?