Due to injuries and illnesses in the secondary, the Steelers didn’t have much time to acclimate newly acquired safety Kyle Dugger. Five days after arriving in a trade from New England, Dugger found himself in the starting lineup and played the entire game at strong safety.

There were no other options other than Dugger for the Steelers. Starting strong safety DeShon Elliott was placed on injured reserve last week after he hyperextended his knee against the Packers. His backups also were unavailable. Chuck Clark came down with an illness on Thursday and could not play, and Jabrill Peppers injured his quad in practice and also could not play.

That pressed Dugger, who played his six previous seasons with the Patriots, into action against the top-ranked Colts offense. He only practiced Thursd

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