You have to love Cameron Heyward’s honesty.
Not that he needed to point anything out the common fan couldn’t.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense was awful in the first half. Worse than awful. Atrocious. Sickening. They were Ronda Rousey. And Denver’s offense was Holly Holm’s foot.
Crack.
“First half, we were playing with our heads cut off,” Heyward told reporters in the locker room after the game.
“We all knew we played like crap in the first half. We just had to wake up. You give them credit where credit is due but we didn’t play our best brand of football in the first half.”
That changed in the second half. The Steelers’ shut out – and shut down – the Broncos, including two key fourth quarter stops, to win the game.
“I thought we competed and got a lot more energy. That first half, it was a lot of lackadaisical play. You give up a QB run for a touchdown. They broke some runs early on in the passing game. I thought in the second half, we stopped the run, we got after the pass, and we forced them to catch some combative balls. And they weren’t successful.”
Heyward did his share, picking up his 7th sack of the season, but it was part of an entire team effort. Ryan Shazier had a crucial interception, Will Allen forced a fumble on the Broncos’ first possession of the game, and William Gay broke up a key fourth down pass late in the game.
Brock Osweiler completed just 31.8% of his second half passes, going 7/22 after a 14/18 mark in the first half. A ridiculous juxtaposition that no one outside of that locker room saw coming. Though the Broncos didn’t have a sterling offense, and AFC North games are always tough, this was the toughest offense the Steelers will face the rest of the season. The Baltimore Ravens are starting either Matt Schaub or Jimmy Clausen while the highlight of the Cleveland Browns’ game yesterday was seeing Dwayne Bowe catch two passes.
