Pained yet passionate and proud, Kelvin Beachum kept his chin high.
Both of the big man's hands put the full brunt of his 303 on his new crutches, as he touched down with one foot, then barely tapped the next. That's the leg that couldn't handle any weight, courtesy of a torn ACL early in the Steelers' otherwise wonderful 25-13 win over the Cardinals Sunday at Heinz Field.
Beachum is done for the season. Even if Mike Tomlin hadn't formally announced that a few minutes earlier, it was all over his face.
But there was more on that face, more to that scene.
If there's any enduring image for me to what this team has encountered en route to a 4-2 record in the previously unthinkable absence of the franchise quarterback, it will be the one of the starting left tackle smiling, cringing, then smiling again as he was flanked by his fellow linemen on the way out of the locker room. David DeCastro carried his bags. Ramon Foster, as always, accompanied him to the right. Marcus Gilbert held the door.
"Proud of my Steelers brothers for pulling out the win today," Beachum would tweet a bit later. "We are a group of fighters, and we will always overcome adversity.”
Yeah, it certainly appears they will. Even with a second-string tackle, a third-string quarterback and a fourth-string kicker.
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