The absence of defensive end Stephon Tuitt wasn’t felt Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers swarmed Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen throughout a 23-16 victory.

Allen, who was in MVP consideration last year, was sacked three times and led the Bills to just one touchdown in the season opener.

The Steelers blitzed one time in 54 dropbacks by Allen, relying on a four-man rush that included primarily two down linemen. Allen was sacked three times, twice by outside linebacker and once by defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, and the Bills were called for six holding penalties, four of which were accepted.

Heyward and nose tackle Tyson Alualu took the most snaps and, in Tuitt’s absence, they rotated with Chris Wormley, Carlos Davis and Isaiah Buggs.

Heyward and Alualu each played about two-thirds of the defensive snaps, with Wormley (40%), Davis (20%) and Buggs (9%) accounting for the rest.

“You have to trust the younger guys to come in and not have a drop-off and play well,” Alualu said Wednesday. “Giving them experience with Tuitt out helps our group as a whole, knowing we can rely on other people instead of Cam and Tuitt.”

Still, the Steelers relied on their veteran starters in a game when the defense was on the field for 85 snaps. Heyward was on the field for 56 plays and Alualu 53, which were more snaps than he received in any game in 2020.

“I feel great coming out of that game,” Alualu said. “Hopefully, we can continue to build on it.”

Tuitt, who set a career high with 11 sacks last season, must sit out at least two more weeks while on injured reserve with a knee injury. Alualu doesn’t expect the wait for Tuitt to be a long one once he is eligible to practice.

“I see him working every day,” he said. “I know it will be soon, and he will come back ready and ready to prove and do the same things he was doing last year. I think he’ll do even better.”

Passing grade

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found just one blemish on center Kendrick Green’s NFL debut.

It came on a premature exchange between the center and quarterback.

“One time, Kendrick snapped it on one instead of two, so it kind of caught us off guard,” Roethlisberger said. “But that is to be expected with all the plays and all the stuff going on, and it was not a disastrous play.”

Green played 55 of a possible 58 offensive snaps, yielding to J.C. Hassenauer briefly on a third-quarter drive. Coach Mike Tomlin said the replacement was not injury-related.

The offensive line, which features four new starters from last season, was called for one false start.

“When you don’t turn the ball over and you limit pre-snap penalties, that’s good,” Roethlisberger said.

Injury report

The Steelers began the practice week without four players being full participants, but only two them were dealing with injuries.

Inside linebacker Robert Spillane was limited because of the shin injury he suffered in pregame warm-ups against the Bills. Davis, the second-year defensive lineman, also was limited because of a knee injury.

Roethlisberger and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster did not participate because of a coach’s decision.

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